Falling Up: A sidestory
by SeventhSpanishAngel
Summary: Complete Another Hogwarts crossover, i'm afraid. Takes place during the events of KHII and is, as the title suggests, a sidestory.
1. Falling Up

**Kingdom Hearts: Falling up- the Keyblade Master takes a side-trip**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Wow! Really!)_

_Spoilers: Dunno, really. Just don't read it if you haven't read/played the stories involved._

_Rating: Um, M, just to be on the safe side._

_Warnings: Uh, Violence, a little bit of Bad Language, smidgen of slash, alludes to mature stuff. I think…. Overabundance of sarcasm and craziness. I completely play around with timelines and canon. Why? Because I can._

_Should be fun._

**Chapter One- Falling Up**

**Unknown world**

They never saw it coming.

Back to back, the trinity was doing what they did best- and so often. They were fighting heartless. Granted, they hadn't particularly wanted to be fighting at that particular time. Only minutes before, in fact, Sora and Donald had been fast asleep, and Goofy had been looking at the stars and thinking of home. As well as watching for danger, of course. He'd warned them when the Heartless had ambushed them, but by then Sora had already been awake, nerves kick-starting his tired brain as the Keyblade shimmered into his hand. Already unhappy about being awake, Sora and Donald had surged to stand with their companion, weapons appearing from wherever they were when they weren't in their hands. The hiss and crackle of Donald's lightning magic, Goofy's odd battle cry and the deadly whisper of the keyblade all blurred together into familiar battle-music.

Just like any other number of mornings, really.

But it wasn't to last. Even as the last of the dark mob were dispatched with the use of Trinity Limit, a strange light came upon the group. They didn't see it over the fading glory of their finishing attack, and by the time Sora figured out that there was something up with that glowy light wrapping around them, it was too late. Even as he flipped impossibly high into the air to avoid it, it surged after him and enveloped him. Donald and Goofy cried out in alarm, and lunged forward. They only succeeded in being enveloped, too. An instant later, only the fading sound of their cries was left. The three, along with the odd light, were gone.

**Hogwarts, England, Earth**

A certain boy-who-lived was enjoying his morning, for once. He's eaten his breakfast early and followed by his somewhat quizzical friends, he'd wandered in rare good humor down by the lake. Harry was happy, for once. He was full, warm, and no-one had tried to kill him lately. Better yet, he'd had undisturbed sleep, a real rarity when your name is Harry Potter and a homicidal Dark Lord is trying to kill you. Hermione and Ron were somewhat confused by his happiness but were hardly going to let it pass by, following beside him as he hummed-_hummed-_his way around the grounds of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ron was still munching on a piece of toast when all three were stopped in their tracks by a strange sound.

They froze.

While other people might have continued on, only momentarily disturbed by the interference in an otherwise flawless morning, when you're Harry or one of his friends, you get ready for anything. They drew closer, wands appearing in hands, staring around for whatever had made that high, unnatural scream.

It was the scream of pure magic, old and potent. And it was dropping off three passengers. Three rather _different_ passengers.

It's no secret that magic works in strange, exciting, and often downright dangerous ways.

And it's not hard to figure out that the Keyblade is the cause of many strange, exciting, and downright dangerous things. The Keyblade Master- Sora- was a figure firmly on the side of light. (He's saved the universe. It's kind of a given.) He had an incredible heart, full of light and love for his friends, his world, and often for perfect strangers. ( Here that incredibly cliché idea that strangers are only friends you haven't met yet actually has a little credibility, since Sora's overwhelming happiness tends to blindside people and before they know it they're helping him out.) The point was, that Sora was a maelstrom of magic and possibility, emphasized and directed by the weapon that lived in his heart.

_The Keyblade._

With a mixture of chance, fate, and magic, Sora always managed to end up exactly where he needed to be. He'd land on the right world to uncover a dark plot by one the Organization's followers, for example. It's a skill.

Every so often, however, when he's truly needed somewhere, whatever power lives inside the keyblade doesn't just give him a nudge, it full on pushes him. In this case, instead of waiting to see if he discovered this world on his journey's, it grabbed him, picked him up, transported him across the galaxy, and dumped him on it.

Dumped quite literally, in this case.

It's a good thing that Hogwart's lake is so deep, because Sora, Donald, and Goofy fell quite a way through the air before impacting with the water's surface and disappearing beneath.

--

The Hogwart's trio whipped around to face the lake, and stared. An odd patch of luminescence was flashing and shifting some hundred feet above the lake, hard to see against the glow of morning's light. The strange sound was emitting from it, sort of like the tortured squeal of a kettle. Only worse. Threads of blue light snapped with seeming anger at the air. With the trio staring up in confusion- and a touch of fear- it spat out three figures before the squeal rose to a crescendo and the light fell in on itself.

Within seconds, the portal was gone, and there was no sign that it had ever existed.

Well, except for the three that had just surfaced, spluttering, in the middle of the lake.

By silent consensus, Ron was the one that peeled off from the group and sprinted off towards the castle, while Hermione and Harry cautiously shifted towards the water's edge, squinting against the dawn at the three people coming there way.

"Uh, are you…alright?"

Funny, two were fairly normal sized, but there was a little one that seemed to be skimming the surface towards them. Then they were close enough to see them without the sun in their eyes and their jaws simultaneously dropped.

This is understandable. Everyone's first reaction to the three anywhere outside of Disney Castle, was shock. This may have been a magic school, but one of their visitor's seemed to be a giant duck. And was that a dog?! Harry barely glanced at the boy, caught up with the fascinating appearance of the…animal-people? They wore _clothes_, and when they splashed up to him, panting, he saw the gleam of human intelligence in their eyes.

"Waddya lookin' at?" Snapped the duck. Harry almost fell over.

--

"Donald!" The boy cried, embarrassed, and Harry, mouth still open, turned to look at him and was once again struck dumb. Luckily, Hermione, quick thinker that she was, was a few steps ahead of him. A few dozen, usually.

"Hello, I'm sorry if we startled you, but you arrived in rather an odd manner. My name is Hermione Granger, this is Harry, and excuse me, but what are you doing in the lake?"

Which is Hermione for you.

--

Sora blushed, sweeping water out of his eyes with one slender hand. He was trying to think of something to say, as well as drag himself out of the lake. Which would normally not be a problem, but his fairy-made clothes had several interesting quirks. One of which became evident whenever he ended up in Atlantica. For one, they vanished. Another important fact, and what probably had the dark-haired youth his age gaping, was that he traded feet for flippers.

Goofy came to his rescue. With a trademark ah-yuk! He waded easily onto the shore to grace the two with a big grin.

"Heya, there. It's nice ta meet you. I'm Goofy, this here's Donald, and this is Sora. Sorry about falling in your lake, and all, but we didn't mean to. We're kinda lost. Do ya mind telling us were we are?" There was a momentary silence. (Hermione had caught sight of Sora and her bookworm side waged a brief, fierce battle with her commonsense. Good manners won out, barely.)

"He-hello. Er, this is Hogwarts. You're obviously all magical- um, Sora was it? Do you need a hand there?" Sora blushed again. He'd been trying to discretely get all out of the water so that he could concentrate on turning back to normal, but had only managed to draw attention to himself. He curled his tail a little, embarrassed. Normally he was much more controlled with meeting new people, but he was rather at a disadvantage here. He cleared his throat. The comment about magic decided him.

"Yes, yes please. I need to be out of the water, see. I'm Sora, it's nice to meet you, and I'm really sorry about all this, but I don't know exactly how we got here."

Harry moved forward, finally closing his mouth, and began to tug Sora out of the water, aided by a chuckling Goofy and an amused Donald.

"Out of the water? But you're obviously some kind of sea-creature? A merman, I shouldn't wonder, one I've never heard of, the ones in this lake are quite different, you know-." Harry cut her off before Sora blushed any harder.

"As the sea-creature in question, I'm sure Sora knows what he needs, Mione."

Hermione blushed herself, moving forward to assist. Together they got him back from the water's edge. Hermione couldn't help herself, leaning forward in fascination to stare at his sky-blue tail, tentatively reaching out, and getting an embarrassed nod, ran her fingers over the solid muscle, marveling in the warmth and texture. Other than the tail, he could have been any other boy- although with his wide, sky-colored eyes and gravity defying, blonde streaked chocolate hair he was undoubtably one of the cutest she'd ever seen. And were those _scars_ on his chest?

Damn, she'd almost had that blush under control, too. Good thing Ron wasn't here.

Speaking of Ron, he was panting and leading a small pack of teacher's- as well as a few curious early rising students- in their direction. Harry turned to look at them, then turned to the odd trio.

"It's the Headmaster and a couple of staff members," he assured them. "They might be able to help find out what happened."

Well, typically, Harry's peace had been shattered, but so far they hadn't tried to kill him- and oddly, he felt that they wouldn't try. Perhaps it was Sora's blush and sheepish smile. And seriously, no-one who sees Donald and Goofy at first think themselves in danger. While they are in fact, very accomplished warriors, they are none the less, a giant duck and a giant, humanoid dog. Hilarity before fear, after all…

--

Sora so far wasn't liking this day. At least Donald and Goofy were with him. Nonetheless, he'd been woken up from a sound sleep _at night_, fought with a bunch of now extremely dead heartless, then been kidnapped by some weird light, and dumped in a lake God-knows-where. And he was currently sporting a tail. In front of other people, people quite notably _without_ them. And now it was day, and all he really wanted to do was sink back into the lake and go back to sleep. Now Sora was, personality wise, like a bright light bulb of good will and happiness. (Although if you threatened someone he cared about he was scary. Then again, he was scary when he was all perky and happy anyway.) But some situations really aren't fair. This was one of them.

Ron skidded to a halt, staring at the newcomers, his face the same color as his hair. Behind him, the group of teachers halted with much more decorum. Sora looked them over, his tail curling and uncurling a little as he sheepishly stared up at them from his place on the ground. His right hand shifted in his lap, half-curling as if around a weapon he didn't yet have. He found his eyes drawn to the magic-user with the long white hair and beard. He wasn't as strong as, say, Merlin, but Sora could _feel_ his magic licking at the air around him.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger- what on earth?" Sora switched his eyes to the woman who had spoken, and went for a wide smile with undying optimism.

"Sorry, lady. We didn't mean to intrude or anything, but the magic kinda just grabbed us- just after a fight, too- and now it'll be a minute or so before I turn back." The stern-looking woman blinked at him.

"Turn, turn back? I'm sorry, what-?" The old magic-user stepped forward, smiling easily, his eyes twinkling with his magic.

"Now, now, Minerva, I'm sure he'll explain if you gave him a moment." He smiled kindly at the boy-turned-merman.

Donald and Goofy decided to speak up. All they managed really was a hello, before they stopped. This was due to the incredulous looks on the adult's faces. (One of the curious students who had trailed along screamed and fell over.) Harry and Hermione rushed forward to fill the stunned silence.

"This is Donald and Goofy, and this is Sora, they fell out of some kind of portal above the lake." (Hermione)

"They said they were lost, Professor. And Sora said he needed to be out of the water." (Harry)

Sora waved his hand at the little crowd, getting their attention.

"Yeah, sorry about the interruption. It's just my clothes were made by fairies, for pretty much any kind of situation, and even though this isn't Atlantica, as soon as I hit the water I transformed. It should only take a minute to-." Sora was cut of himself here as a warm sensation flowed around him. His tail tingled. He fell silent, almost purring at the feeling of magic wrapping around him, head tilting unconsciously back. He was unaware of it, but he was glowing. A soft, golden hue had settled over his form, and the teachers of Hogwarts leant forward in fascination. His eyes half-closed, and he was barely aware of Donald's wing on his arm, or Harry's hand at the small of his back. His lips parted on a little sigh as the magic gathered, then with a flash his tail was gone and he had his legs back. Happily, his clothes had also returned, from wherever it was they went to when they did that. Probably the same place his Keyblade went to, he supposed. With another sigh, this one of relief, he pulled himself to his feet, and taking advantage of the absolute silence wrought by his transformation, gave them a true smile.

"That's better. Now, you said this place was called Hogwarts, or something?"


	2. Hogwarts huh?

**Chapter Two- Hogwarts, huh?**

Eventually, the two trios found themselves sitting down in the Headmaster's office. It had taken awhile for them to get there, considering the outburst over poor Sora's change back to his normal form. (Sora didn't get it. Apparently this was a _magic_ school. Shouldn't they be used to this kind of thing?) Not to mention even now the teacher's were throwing odd looks at his companions. Sora bristled slightly. As long as they left his friends alone, they'd all get along just fine.

The old, powerful one was called Dumbledore, the older lady was McGonagall, and the dark, somewhat sleazy looking one was Snape. The kind-looking woman was Pomfrey, and the very small wizard was Flitwick. They all had such strange names. But that was okay, Sora had heard weirder throughout his travels. The two his age that he had met at the lake were sitting across from him, along with another boy named Ron.

Sora was feeling much better now that he was back on his own two feet, and wearing clothes. He felt even better when two odd little creatures, house elves apparently, brought out two heaped trays of food. After a quick scan to ensure nothing was dangerous (He was hungry, not stupid) he and his two companions dived in. Not long after, Ron stole a pastry. Harry seemed amused, and Hermione was, for some reason, muttering to herself about freedom for all, and the rights of the oppressed.

"Well, Sora," Dumbledore offered, once they had finished eating, a task he had watched them perform with amusement. "And Donald and, Goofy, was it?" Sora could understand that. Goofy was a sort of odd name, really. The three nodded to the headmaster. Harry squirmed a little, full of questions, and Hermione was practically drooling with the desire to start the questioning.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley say that the three of you arrived here at Hogwarts in a somewhat unusual manner. Would you mind explaining? Once we know more, we can see about getting you back home." He was smiling and twinkling as he said it, a vision of grandfatherly kindness. Nevertheless, Sora simply smiled back for a moment, turning to look at Donald and Goofy. They gave little nods, trusting him. Sora was an extremely good judge of character, although somewhat hopelessly optimistic, and he felt no danger from any of them.

Except the dark man, Snape. Sora looked at him for a moment, gauging him.

"Well, are you going to answer the Headmaster, brat, or not?" This charming voice was Snape of course, and Sora nodded, decided.

"Not in your presence," Sora stated flatly, over Professor McGonagall's gasp at Snape's tone. Snape sneered, seemingly automatically, staring at Sora and his companions with distaste.

"And what do you think-." Donald and Goofy were a lot of things. Donald may have been hot-tempered, and Goofy somewhat scattered, but they were all firm friends that had been to hell and back together- literally- and they wouldn't allow some stranger to badmouth him. They leapt up in indignation, demanding that Snape apologize. Since there was little to no chance of _that_ happening, it's a good thing Dumbledore interceded when he did (no-one else was going to, the teachers too horrified, and the golden trio too gleeful) because otherwise things could have gotten very ugly indeed.

"Settle down now," he said sternly, once he had waved Snape to silence.

"Now Sora, what can't you say in front of Professor Snape? He is a respected teacher here at Hogwarts." Harry and Ron snorted in disbelief, then shrunk back at Snape's glare.

Sora stared back at the headmaster serenely. He smiled, and it lit him up, but he was still firm when he replied.

"I mean no offense, sir. I am thankful for your hospitality to my friends and I. But Sn-Professor Snape, sorry, does not feel safe. I have not survived as long as I have by ignoring my instincts. He has a dark aura, and I'm afraid I cannot trust him straight out with our secrets."

"Why you impudent bra-." The Headmaster once more waved him to silence, this time with a little more force. Now all of the teachers were staring at Sora with interest. (Not that they hadn't been before, but they'd also been staring at Donald and Goofy.)

"You can read his aura?" The headmaster asked, interested. Sora shifted position.

"After a fashion, yes. He is not safe. Sorry." Sora stuttered a little at the end, not liking being the centre of so much attention.

"Quite alright, child," the headmaster said merrily, ignoring Professor Snape's dark expression and the murderous sounds that were fighting past clenched teeth.

"Perhaps, after further explanation, you can come to trust Professor Snape as I do." Not likely, Sora thought, the icy dislike in the older man's eyes straightening his back, and acting instinctively to the danger, it was all Sora could do to keep the Keyblade from flashing into existence in his hand. As it was, a few soft sparkles glittered unnoticed around his fingers before vanishing.

"Severus? If you would just wait outside for now?" Snape got to his feet, his sneer once more firmly in place, and swept out the door.

Not only Sora relaxed when he was gone.

"Now," Dumbledore said, leaning forward, "if you could tell us what you are doing here?"

Sora sighed. Deeply. He wondered where to start.

"Uh, Donald? Goofy?" They turned and stared at him as if he was crazy. He mumbled to himself, then looked up at the teachers who were watching him with interest.

"Well, it's a really long story. I feel like I can trust you, but this could take awhile. As I said, my name's Sora, and I live on a world called Destiny Isle, and it's a world quite distinct from this once. My two best friends, Kairi and Riku, and I were just ordinary kids, but-." Once again, Sora was doomed to be interrupted.

"Another world? But that's impossible, isn't it? Pure theory!" Predictably, the interruption came from Hermione, who was shushed to silence by her friends.

Sora turned to look at her.

"Oh, it's possible. But it's not meant to be, see? The world's are all kept separate, but then something went wrong." Sora stopped and chewed his lip for a moment, thinking.

"Every star you see in the night sky is another world. And every time you see a falling star, a world is dying. When I was fourteen, I noticed there were a lot of falling stars. I didn't know what it meant, though. But I was having the oddest dreams, of falling and voices and shadows with eyes and mouths..." Sora drifted, for a long moment. Then he shook his head. He turned again to look at the teachers and noticed the disbelief in their eyes.

"At least let me finish before you start disbelieving me," he scolded. "This is a world of magic, isn't it? Believe me, I've met a lot of stranger things than my friends here. Anyway, the cause of all the trouble- _my_ trouble, that is, was the Keyblade." Sora stopped and scanned the group again.

"Keyblade?" Dumbledore didn't sound disbelieving, just interested.

"Yeah, the Keyblade," Donald said, crossing his arms. Wings. Whatever.

"The Keyblade," Sora continued, "Well, no-one is sure exactly where it came from, or why. But it's a weapon designed to kill the heartless, to lock and unlock worlds. It chooses people with strong hearts to wield it. It's an incredibly powerful weapon, with many forms." Sora hesitated, then sighed.

"I'm the Keyblade Master."

And so saying, Sora held out his hand in front of him and called the Keyblade forth. Before the astonished eyes of the occupants of the headmaster's office, a golden swirl formed in Sora's hand, then flashed, expanding into the familiar shape of Oathkeeper. Running a finger along the blade, Sora smiled sadly.

"This is the Keyblade."

--

Everyone wanted to hold it. Sora blinked in bemusement, then shrugged, handing the massive, deadly weapon hilt first to Harry. It liked him, he could tell, and Harry stared at it in wonder, his two friends running their hands over it. Ron, of course, managed to knick himself on the edge, and pulled his hand back with a yelp.

"Careful," Sora offered, a little too late. Ron glared, but looked pretty ridiculous with his sore finger stuck in his mouth. Harry laughed softly, then passed the weapon back to Sora, who smiled one of his incredible smiles at him before handing the blade to Dumbledore, who took it with a competent hand. The keyblade allowed his touch too, but it shivered briefly under his touch, and Sora felt it in the silence of his soul. The teachers passed the blade around, Dumbledore once more asking questions.

"What exactly does the Keyblade do? What do _you_ do with it?" Sora kicked his feet, stretching out his sore back with a little yawn.

"The Keyblade goes to the one with the strongest heart." Sora paused again, remembering the blade in Riku's hands, then his own.

"It's a weapon against the heartless. It can unlock or lock the heart of each world, unlock or lock anything that can be locked." Sora cocked his head to the side, wishing Donald or Goofy would help out here. Of course, normally Donald would be frying Goofy for mentioning other worlds, but this was a unique situation…

"Other than that, not a lot's known about it. But it is very, very powerful. There's a few of them out there. The King's got one, I know."

The Keyblade, evidently tired of being passed around, flashed back into Sora's grip. Unconsciously, Sora relaxed, tightening his grip and welcoming the warmth in his heart.

There were startled murmurs around the room. Sora grinned quirkily.

"It chooses the wielder, remember? This way it can't get stolen, or used by the wrong person." Unless, Sora thought privately, it was the Wielder that used it for the wrong purposes. He thought of Riku, possessed by Ansem, and shuddered.

"This isn't it's original form, you know. The key-chains I've found give it different strengths and forms." Reaching into his pocket, Sora brought out a few.

"Here." Slipping off Oathkeeper, the keyblade flashed and resumed it's appearance as the Kingdom Key. He lifted the glittering silver blade so everyone could see.

"This is the Keyblade's basic form, the Kingdom Key." Sora slipped a few key-chains on, morphing the blade several times before reattaching Oathkeeper.

"Oathkeeper's one of my favorites," he confided. "It's very strong, and it means a lot to me." Dreamily, he spun the weapon over his head, smiling at the feel of the hilt in his hands, then let it rest slanted across his knees, the spiky head biting into the carpet.

"Heartless?" With one word the headmaster brought him out of his reverie. Sora winced.

Happily, Donald evidently felt he'd been ignored too long, and spoke up.

"Yeah, heartless. You've probably got them here. Shadow creatures," he said professionally, "they go after your heart, ripping it out and leaving the victims behind to become heartless themselves. There's lots of heartless, and many different kinds."

"Rip people's hearts out?" Harry said dazedly, disgusted.

"Professor, I've never heard of them. Have you?" Professor Dumbledore's eyes were very grave.

"No, Harry, I haven't." Sora winced again, feeling guilty. It was only a matter of time, true, but with his presence, the heartless invasion would happen much faster. If heartless weren't attacking him within two days, he'd be very, very surprised.

"That's a little strange, but then, we really don't know where that portal has taken us. Unfortunately, heartless are drawn to me. To the Keyblade. It's only a matter of time before they track us down. And we don't really have time for this, there's this Organization thirteen running around, I've got to find Riku, and I still have to find the Door to light. But I also know that whatever brought us here, did so for a reason. Do you have any idea why? Is there anything you think we can help out with here?"

It was the teacher's time to shift their eyes away.

"As a matter of fact, Sora, there is-." Professor Dumbledore was cut off by the stern teacher, professor McGonagall.

"Dumbledore! Surely you cannot be suggesting we let this young boy become involved with such a dangerous situation!" Sora shook his head, and coughed, loudly. She swung her head to stare at him. Sora got to his feet, aware of Donald and Goofy getting up to stand beside him. He lifted the Keyblade, and watched as her eyes took it in once more.

"I'm the Keyblade master. My companions are very competent. I know I'm young, Professor, but youth didn't save me when my world fell. It didn't save me in any of the dangerous situations I've been in- and I've been in more than I think you can imagine. I've nearly died more times than I can count. Donald, Goofy and I have traveled to many different worlds, fighting heartless, Ansem and the Organization." Sora let the Keyblade fall, spinning it expertly around his wrist, throwing light around the room.

"I have faced darkness. I am still here. If I- we- can help, let us." She sat down slowly, face white. Harry watched Sora, eyes wide, one hand creeping up to rub over his scar.

Dumbledore watched them all from old eyes.

"Well spoken, Sora. Tell me, do you know any magic?" Donald jumped in, laughing his odd squawking laugh.

"Of course we know magic! I'm Court Wizard of Disney Castle! Sora knows heaps of spells, and even Goofy can use Curaga potions." Sora grinned, shaking his head.

"Calm down, Donald." He looked at the headmaster again.

"This is a magic school. You probably use magic for all sorts of things. I know quite a bit of battle magic, and Donald knows way more, but I have a feeling we use magic for different things." Dumbledore reached over his desk and snagged a lemon drop.

"You're quite right, Sora. We have more practical magic, here. Perhaps a demonstration is in order, so that we can decide where to place you."

"Place me?"

"Yes. I think for the time you are here, you will be benefited by learning as much as you can before resuming your-journey." Sora stared. Donald stared. Goofy stared.

"You're putting me in SCHOOL?" Unvoiced but not unheard, was the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me.

"We'll see. I think it will all work out well, in the end. Now, I think we should continue exchanging stories, for I feel you have much still to say." Head still stuck on the 'school' comment, Sora just groaned, wishing he could bang his head against the desk.

"There, there, Sora," Goofy soothed, while Donald sniggered.

"It won't be that bad. I'm sure you'll learn lots."

"Oh, not just Sora, you two will be joining him."

"WHAT?" That was Donald, just in case you were wondering.

--

Two hours later, and with headaches all around, the group dispersed. Sora and his companions found themselves standing with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Dumbledore had briefly argued the point about them trying out for wands, but the two magic-users, Sora and Donald, were adamant about keeping their weapons. They reminded him that heartless were sure to be attacking soon, and they couldn't afford to get out of practice, or they'd wind up dead. (Several teachers had paled at this blunt statement.) Dumbledore had changed tack, arguing for uniforms and supplies, backed up by the stern witch Professor McGonagall. Harry and his friends stood watching with a mixture of sympathy and amusement. Sora flat out refused to change his clothes. (Did they have any idea how often he would have ended up near bloody naked without self-repairing clothes? Not to mention the other tricks they performed. Had they forgotten when they'd first met he'd had a tail?) However he gave a little ground here, allowing for the inclusion of a cloak _over_ his clothes. Tired of arguing, he let them decide on what supplies they would need, although when he asked if they had any cure potions all he received was a blank stare. The same blank stare appeared when he offered his money, which apparently had no relevance whatsoever to their monetary system. Universally accepted, ha.

Happily, Sora and his friends were full up with cure potions and Dumbledore seemed more than happy to pay for anything they needed. (Needed being an interesting term here, since the unhappy trio didn't think they needed anything, including schooling, thank-you-very-much.) While arguing a point with the professors, everyone was once again surprised as Jiminy chirped up, hopping out of one of Sora's pockets, adjusting his top hat primly. Sora, along with everyone else, just about had a heart attack. He'd completely forgotten about the poor cricket! And he might have drowned or something.

"A, a cricket? And he's wearing a top hat!" Hermione stuttered, since Professor McGonagall seemed able only to clutch at her chest and breathe in startled little gasps.

"Sorry for startling you, Madame," the 'cricket' said courteously. "My name is Jiminy, I am the official recorder for Sora and his friends. I just wondered if I might verify with you a few points about your fascinating world…?" Getting over her shock, the professor leaned forward, eyes alight with fascination. She seemed to react well to his good manners, and with her hands shaking only lightly, scooped him up to her shoulder, whereupon he whipped out his journal and gave her his complete and utter attention. The two wandered off down the hall, chatting amiably within a dozen paces. Ron stared open-mouthed after them, while Harry and Hermione exchanged bemused looks.

"Anyone else we should know about? A snake or something?"

"Of course," Ron interjected, "we could get Harry here to talk to it, if it was a snake."

"Ron, you idiot, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy have all been able to talk perfectly respectable English, why would you need Harry to translate?" In an attempt to stop Hermione and Ron from getting into an argument, or perhaps simply not caring, Harry stepped forward and linked arms with Sora, and walking away began to tell him all about Hogwarts, how it had secret passages and moving staircases. Sora's eyes lit up. He'd been is some pretty cool castles, and Hollow Bastion had had some pretty cool secret passages, but the little boy in his heart who had built pillow forts was instantly enthralled. Turning his brightest smile on poor, unsuspecting Harry, Sora charmed him into showing him some of the castle- more precisely, the 'cool' parts. Fighting laughter, Donald and Goofy followed in their wake. When they reached the end of the corridor, Hermione and Ron suddenly noticed their absence and sprinted after them, still arguing.

It was looking to be just another day at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but unbeknownst to most, the Keyblade Master, Magnet for Trouble and Heartless, had just moved in. And combined with the Boy-Who-Lived, Magnet for Trouble and Voldemort, the coming days would almost have to prove, at the very least, interesting. Most likely also thrilling, exciting, and downright dangerous…

--

Lunch proved to be almost as interesting as the morning, with Harry and his friends leading the three newcomers around the enormous castle, then dragging them into the main hall for a well-deserved meal. (Ron had wanted to bypass it and simply go straight to the kitchens, Sora had been delighted when they showed him how to tickle the fruit to gain entry, but fear of a Hermione Granger Freedom-For-All speech kept him quiet.) The trio dragged their new friends to the Gryffindor table, talking all the while. The rest of the table feel silent, staring at Donald and Goofy, in fact, pretty much the whole hall did, but since Harry and his friends were clearly ignoring their reactions, they all, slowly, resumed eating and talking, throwing confused glances towards the red and gold table.

"There's four houses here in Hogwarts, see, Gryffindor- that's the one we're in- Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Hufflepuff, _stop laughing, Sora,_ Hufflepuff is for the friendly, hard-workers. Ravenclaw is for the really smart people, and Slytherin, well, Slytherin is for people with ambition." Ron interrupted with several choice words.

"Ron! I can't believe you said that! They're not _all_ bad, except that little _weasel_ Malfoy."

Sora raised his brows, glancing between the trio and the other three tables.

"Interesting," was all he said.

"I wonder what House you three will be sorted into?" Sora shrugged, glancing at Donald, who was more interested in seeing if his goblet was real silver, then at Goofy, who was smiling at a terrified first year sitting across from him, telling her all about his son Max.

"I don't think it matters. Dumbledore never mentioned a sorting, maybe we'll be able to avoid it." No sooner had Sora said this that Dumbledore stood, tapping his fork on the side of his goblet, calling for silence. He beamed around the Great Hall, deadly twinkle at full blast. The hall wasn't full, some people opting to study and eat later, but nonetheless there was more than enough people there than Sora felt comfortable with. And he didn't like sitting with his back to them. It was unlikely any of them were about to throw anything at him, but Sora had had too many people try to kill him to relax now.

"Now that I have your attention, no doubt you are wondering about the presence of our three visitors. They come from far away, and will be staying with us for awhile. They do, in fact, come from a different world," the Hall erupted in whispers, and Sora stared up at the teacher's table, eyes wide.

"Now, now, calm down. As I was saying, Sora, Donald and Goofy," there were brief titters over the last name, "Will be staying here at Hogwarts until their work here is concluded and they can go home. I warn you all that they are able fighters, who, on their world, have been fighting against a great darkness. Anyone found bothering them will instantly have a detention with Mr. Filch doing whatever he sees fit. Now, I would like the three of you to come up here and be Sorted for your time here with us."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, a tattered black hat in her arms, which she placed gently on a chair. Oddly enough, the hat seemed to have a face. Sora turned and wrinkled his nose at Harry, whose ribs hitched with silent laughter, and got up in the sudden silence with his friends and moved towards Dumbledore. He felt better for their presence, and Ron's whisper of "good luck, mate," as he felt the stares of the rest of the students on his back. Strangely enough, he swore he heard a girl sigh…Sora settled himself beside Dumbledore, fidgeting lightly, noticing darkly that Dumbledore was completely unaffected and utterly serene. Donald and Goofy, as usual, seemed unconcerned with the attention, even though people were standing up to stare.

The hat _moved_.

Without thinking, Sora leapt back, back-flipping and putting distance between himself and the possible threat, Keyblade flaring into life as it reacted to his sense of danger. (It seemed to work both ways. If it sensed danger, it would appear, if he sensed danger, it would appear.) Donald and Goofy had reacted as well, spinning out to stand with him. He could feel the sudden hum over his skin as Donald's magic flared, heard the creak as Goofy shifted his weight, Save- the- King at the ready. He was ready, they were ready…

"Stop! Sora, I promise you, it's quite safe!" Sora blinked, shaking himself out of battle mode, suddenly remembering the horde of students around him, and turned to stare at Dumbledore once more. The hall was dead silent. Nobody breathed.

"Forgive me Sora, I warned the students and quite forgot myself. The Sorting hat is no threat, it is a magical construct that reads into your personality and decides which House you belong in. It will not harm you."

Magic, of course. Sora blushed, but knew it was hardly his fault, the most innocent of things were often traps, and over a year of constant battle had him constantly on edge. He straightened from his instinctive fighting stance, allowing the Keyblade to vanish again into his heart. He glanced at Donald and Goofy, and saw that they too were relaxing. The hum over his skin vanished as Donald let Save-The-Queen rest at his side, and Goofy was once more all smiles as he let his heavy shield fade away. Wow, he'd kept his secret for a whole half day…

"Sorry, Headmaster."

He wasn't. Adrenalin still pumped through his veins, he missed the solid comfort of Oathkeeper's weight.

"That's quite alright, Sora, I know Hogwarts is quite a change for you three." Dumbledore raised his voice so the whole hall could hear, not that he needed to for everyone was still very quiet.

"As you can see, startling them could have very sorrowful results. Now before I sort these new students, I would also like to warn you all of a possible new threat."

Sora knew he meant the heartless. Possible threat? It was certain.

"Dark creatures called Heartless could soon be on the prowl. If you see them, you will know them for their dark, shadowy coloring, or the distinct heart symbol on their chests. Just as with the Dementor's you will not approach them. You will call instantly for a teacher- or for any of these three, for they are well able to take care of them. Be warned, these creatures are deadly and will leave you worse than dead. Now, on with the Sorting."

Sora mourned miserably the danger he was bringing into these children's lives. (He didn't stop and remember he was a child himself.) And after all, they had danger enough on their own, with this Voldemort character running around trying to kill Harry and bent on world domination. It was like Ansem on a smaller scale, although no less terrifying for the people of this world. He felt Donald and Goofy shift closer, feeling his mood. He managed a smile for them, then his attention was yanked to Professor McGonagall as she said his name with a slightly shaky voice. Perhaps their actions had brought home the reality of the situation. Sora doubted it. He knew none of them would believe until the heartless themselves came. All he could hope for was that none of those mysterious Organization thirteen members showed up. Sora stepped forward, watching the hat uneasily. Now that he was closer, it seemed to have an odd sort of face. It quivered. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Reading his personality, huh? He didn't like the sound of that. McGonagall lifted the hat to place it on his head. Unconsciously, Sora tensed, hand curling, ready…

Apparently no one had told the Sorting Hat that it had to sort late students.

"What's this? More students? But it's far too early, and it's far too late! I haven't a song for them!" Sora had seen it moving, but hearing it speak made him jump in surprise.

McGonagall lowered the hat again and scowled a little at it.

"There's only three of them, they don't need a song. It'll only take but a moment." The Hat ignored her, humming and ahhing as it twisted in her arms to stare at Sora and his friends. Ignoring all attempts to rush it, the Sorting Hat looked them over, seemingly seeing something that no-one else could. It had looked into a lot of heads, and Sorted many students, but no-one had ever stopped to really wonder about it's Song, the Song it sang each year, and was always different.

And always, universally, ignored.

Finally, the Hat opened the slit in its brim that served as a mouth, and sang:

_Now our hearts they are connected,_

_Though we travel far and wide,_

_And they cannot be directed,_

_Nor the truths be changed inside_

_Now a Warrior may go seeking,_

_And a Wizard, and a Knight,_

_And despite all the havoc wreaking _

_They will always find the light_

_But the darkness it grows great,_

_And challenges the light,_

_And the fear, the lies, the hate,_

_Try to bring an endless night_

_With every light a shadow falls,_

_And each reflection has a face_

_And dark to light it calls,_

_And every life it leaves a trace_

_So go seeking and you will find,_

_If you look within without hate_

_Light exists in heart not mind,_

_And your way is marked by fate._

The Sorting Hat fell silent, pleased.

Less pleased was pretty much everyone else within the hall. Sora felt a chill go down his spine. First a talking hat, and then it had sang about darkness…In a cryptic manner that gave him nothing except a bad feeling. Professor McGonagall's voice was _definitely_ shaking this time when she said his name. Teeth clenched, Sora stalked forward towards the hat as he would towards an enemy, fists clenched and head tilted forward. Professor McGonagall let the hat slip gently over his head, easing it over the soft spikes of his gravity defying hair. The brim slipped over his eyes.

He was very tense. How did it read his personality? What was with the song?

"_Shh, now_. _Calm down_." The voice did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. In fact, it tripled them, until he was on the edge of the seat, ready for anything. The voice was in his _head_.

"_I'm the Sorting Hat,_ _Child_, _where else_ _would I be_?" Sora had a lot of answers, not all of them nice.

"_Oh, hush. And you're normally such a nice boy, too. Such a bright spirit_. _So bright a_ _light within despite all you've seen. No, that's not right. It's only grown. I've never read anyone like you, Boy, but then I've never read anyone from another world. And how many wondrous worlds you've seen…"_

The Hat read his panic before he could give it voice.

"_Don't fret now, I won't tell anyone what's inside your head. Hmm. Where to put you? You have friends now in Gryffindor, and you put great trust in friends. Perhaps too much. You've paid for that, with your wandering friend, haven't you?"_

Suddenly Sora was full of memories of Riku. Riku and him sparring on flawless golden sand, wooden swords clanking. Racing across the beach, water flying in their wake. Riku, holding his hand out, always holding his hand out. Riku holding the Keyblade, not a wooden sword, and Sora doesn't know yet the look on the face, that strange look as he lashes at him. Riku trying to kill him, and finally, Riku standing behind closing doors, peace on his face.

Grief fills him, along with determination. _I will find you_.

"_You have a great heart, Child, I hope you never lose your faith and your light. But you have such a dark path before you- will you not rest? I feel you have a long way yet to go. Why not go to Hufflepuff? Even Ravenclaw would take you. Slytherin as it is now would never take you, and you are already surrounded by Darkness. Perhaps Hufflepuff, although you are so fierce in your defense of others…and fierceness they have lost." _

"No," Sora whispered, not even aware he was talking out loud. "_No_. I won't give up, ever. Not now, not later. Put me where I belong.

"_Are you sure? It isn't wrong to rest, you know. You deserve it."_

Images. Kairi, laughing. Riku, hand outstretched. Cloud, eyes sad and lonely and almost broken, searching for his dark reflection, Sephiroth. Leon. Yuffie. Donald and Goofy. They were all in his heart, all of them, so many that he had met, safe inside. _I hold you here when I cannot hold you any other way. Even in the darkness- no, especially then._

"_I see, then. There wasn't really any doubt, was there? I wish you strength on your journey, for strength you will need. Try to enjoy what time you have here. __**GRYFFINDOR**__!"_

And Sora gasped, released, and once again he was alone is his mind, and someone was lifting the hat off his head. He stared dazedly around, hearing cheers from the table decorated in red and gold with the tapestry of the rearing lion. He could hear Harry and Ron, yelling something that might have been his name, while Hermione simply beamed happily. He found his way to his feet and walked over to them, still scattered from his talk with the Hat.

"You alright, there? You look real pale," Harry sympathized. "I remember my Sorting, really drained me." Ron elbowed Harry so he could stare around him at Sora.

"What was with the Keyblade? You moved so quickly- you all did! I mean, it was just a hat. Crazy song, though. Don't mind it, sings every year." Sora gave him a shaky version of his smile, murmuring, "I was merely startled." He turned to stare up at the dais as Donald was being sorted. It took some time, and Donald's expression changes- what he could see of them, were amusing. Finally, the Hat cried **GRYFFINDOR** just as loudly as it had before.

"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "Shoulda just put you all here with us lions." Goofy's sorting was so quick it was humorous. The hat sat on his head for only moments before breaking into laughter- apparently a first, if the reactions around Sora were anything to go by- and immediately Sorted the knight into **GRYFFINDOR** as well. The Gryffindor table broke into loud congratulations, and Sora rubbed absently at his forehead, wishing his headache would disappear. His time with the Hat had brought up memories he hadn't wanted disturbed. Nevertheless, he smiled at his new friends and congratulated his old, sipping from delightfully cold, clear water. Those house elves really knew what they were doing. He made the mistake of saying this out loud, and watched in astonishment as Hermione transformed before his eyes, seemingly possessed by indignation as those surrounding her cowered and shot Sora pained looks. Wide eyed, he grabbed a sandwich from the table and took off, needing some fresh air anyway.


	3. So what are we doing here?

**Chapter Three- So what are we doing here?**

He rested gratefully under the branches of a rather odd tree. It was very big, for one, but Sora could have sworn that several times he'd seen the thing _move_. Regardless of the fact that this _was_ a magic school, it was still a tree and Sora was merely grateful for it's shade. Sora wasn't aware of it, but he should never have been allowed to get so close to it. This particular tree had a personality issue- that is, it hated everybody. Impartially, and without regret. The fact that it's name is the Whomping Willow should be the first and last clue. However, Sora had been blissfully unaware of that as he'd settled there, letting his emotions go and reveling in the beauty of his new surrounds. Creak-swish!

Sora looked up, confused.

Nothing. (In actual fact, a bird that had been blissfully enjoying the lovely morning had chanced too close to the tree and was now…no longer flying. Or chirping. Or making any movement at all, really…) Sora stretched lazily, letting a hand reach out affectionately against the tree's trunk. He thought it might have twitched, for a moment, but that was ridiculous. (Considering his earlier near-terror of a _hat_ of all things, this may seem somewhat hypocritical. Which it is, but Sora, ball of light that he was, had merely been looking for rest. His overwhelming light and dreamy unconcern for the fighting tree had stunned it into stillness, and after all, people are never afraid of trees at first. No. Something always has to happen.) The Whomping Willow, though it didn't know it, had fallen victim to the charms of the young boy like any other number of people. (A tree was a first, even for him.) First was the dazed confusion- why aren't I killing/robbing/hitting-him-with-a-branch, then the dazed realization- he's-kind-of-cute/why-is-he-smiling-at-me/resting-beneath-my-branches, and lastly, dazed acceptance, he-really-is-cute/he's-smiling-at-_me_/resting-beneath-_my_-branches. Finally, the poor tree was so happy he was sitting beside it and no other tree that the idea of trying to kill him had never really crossed it's mind.

Meanwhile, Sora's headache was gone, his thoughts were at peace, and he should really get back before people got worried. He patted the trunk of the enormous willow fondly.

"Thanks," he said to the tree, oddly grateful for it's presence.

"I'll try to come back, okay?" And with a final pat he left the comfort of its shade and walked back up to the castle. The Whomping Willow watched him go sadly.

--

Sora met Harry and his friends on his way back.

"Hey Sora, you okay? Where were you?" Sora smiled.

"Oh, no-where, just sitting under that nice tree down by the lake."

"…" Sora was at peace with the world but the frozen expressions on their faces made him blink.

"What?" Harry grabbed him by the arm, turned him around, and pointed to the Willow down below.

"That tree? That tree exactly? You sat down _under_ it?" Sora nodded, confused.

"And you're still _alive_?" Sora was really getting confused, now.

"Yes. That tree. Directly under. And of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?" Ron made a strangled sound. In fact, he made several.

"That evil, demonically possessed tree tried to kill us! It hates everything! _Everything_!"

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Please. It was a perfectly nice tree. Now come on, I've gotta meet Donald and Goofy so we can show the professor's how much magic we know…"

Just another day at Hogwart's school of Witchcraft and Wizardry… 

--

The show-and-tell magic lesson was interesting, to say the least. Needless to say, the two parties involved wielded magic very differently. Professor Dumbledore had decided that the Room of Requirement was perfect for the purposes of the demonstration, as well as keeping curious eyes away. Sora privately wondered if it even mattered- half of the school had seen him pull an oddly key-shaped weapon out of thin air after all. But Sora also knew enough to guess that this Dark Lord they had running around might- no, _would_, have spies among the students, and keeping all advantages as close as possible for as long as possible was crucial. He was saddened that people his age would willingly supply information about their peers to the monster, knowing that very few of them really understood the consequences of their actions.

Donald was impatient to get to the spell-casting, while Sora and Dumbledore were trying to understand each other's views on magic.

Sora's view of magic was rather a simplistic one. When he had first discovered it, he had marveled of course, but of much more importance than the magic itself, had been the magic's _aid_ in his battles.

It was all about staying alive. Every spell he knew was of use in battle- from thundaga to cure spells. From what he'd seen of Hogwarts so far, magic was used for _everything_. The young witches and wizards used magic to float objects, to transform them, and they did this with everything from their homework to getting their meals.

Sora wasn't sure if he approved. Perhaps it was disillusionment that magic, seen from his younger, awed perspective, was used so frivolously, when after all, it had saved his life- and threatened it- from the moment he'd discovered it. Finally, sick of arguing about it, they agreed to just go ahead and show each other.

The wizards- and witches- went first. With a wave of a wand, and words spoken in an odd language Sora didn't recognize, objects in the room became alive. Professor McGonagall seemed to prefer doing this quite literally, when a brass cat statue shook itself and stepped down from the mantle with the inborn disdain present in all cats. Harry and his friends floated objects, summoned them, changed them from one thing into another. (How a cushion could become a raven, Sora had no idea.) Interestingly, Professor Dumbledore performed no magic, seeming to prefer watching them all, thumbs hooked in his pockets. Watching one of Harry's spells, a lovely silver stag, canter around the room before fading, Sora thought to ask what he thought was an obvious question.

"What of battle magic?" This question got him a slight frown from Professor McGonagall, who seemed irritated that a child would need to know such dangerous magic, and Sora wondered if she'd completely skipped over the dangers he'd mentioned from his past. And present. And very foreseeable future. Harry answered, and Sora nodded thoughtfully to himself, remembering that Harry had been the target of the Dark maniac more than once.

"Yeah, there's loads of spells you can use against opponents. Think of how we changed that cushion into a raven- while full-body human transformations are really hard, little alterations aren't. Not to mention the basic stunning spells, trip and confusion hexes…" Harry trailed off, and Hermione lunged in eagerly.

"Ooh, that's true, there's so many jinxes and hexes good for fighting, stuff everybody knows, and.." Hermione paused, enthusiasm visibly dieing off, "not to mention the dark spells. Torture spells and control spells and rituals."

Sora felt ill. From what he could see of Donald's face, he felt the same.

"Gee," he whispered. "That's terrible." He thought of what little magic he knew, and winced.

"Well, we haven't got anything that, that-." He was tempted to say terrible again, but swallowed it and said "Strange," instead. He summoned the Keyblade, and looked up at the teachers. When Professor Dumbledore had asked what kind of design he needed to perform his magic, Sora had thought of a plaza, an odd mix of the many he'd seen on different worlds crossed with the battle arena from Olympus. Then he'd had to walk three times in front of the plain wooden door inwardly thinking of a room like that that would also have a comfortable sitting arrangement for when they needed to hash over details. The resulting 'room' had been odd indeed, with an enormous fighting arena but with what looked to be a lounge-room setting close to the door. Not wanting to set the couches on fire, and wanting room to move to show them what he could do- and maybe show off just a little- Sora led the way out onto the arena. It looked a lot like Olympus stadium, and he looked around automatically for Phil before staring down at the floor for a long moment, distracted by the odd markings that looked like wings, wondering what on earth the room had seen in his mind. He dragged his attention to his audience, who were watching him with barely masked eagerness, and Donald who was all but dancing in place. The only thing was, they were far too close. If he swung the Keyblade now, he'd kill someone.

"Well, our magic is more, uh, direct, and to show you properly, Donald and me will need a bit of room. A lot of room. So if you could wait just over there…" They all hurried to do so, Goofy standing a little apart incase they wanted to borrow his strength for a particular spell.

It was strange, standing there, feeling foolish, with no enemies to battle. He shifted into a battle stance, then stopped, chewing on his lip.

"Uh, actually, do you think you could magic up some opponents for us? Otherwise I'm gonna feel pretty silly hacking at thin air." Dumbledore chuckled and for the first time lifted his wand, bringing it down towards the floor in an intricate but precise motion. Sora couldn't help but notice he said nothing aloud. A haze spread out of his wand and took form, smoky shapes that, as they spilled from his wand, gained more and more form, until they were solid. They drifted over towards Donald and Sora, swirling out to surround them, and Sora fell back into a fighting stance, lifting his blade. This was more like it. His opponents, whatever they were, strange silver ghost-like shadows, didn't move. They simply watched him with blank, lifeless eyes.

"Sora? Whenever you're ready, just say so, and I'll activate them." Sora nodded, then said, "Now's fine. I wish the heartless informed us before attacking…"

And then the silver wraiths began to move.

They were fast, for such seemingly insubstantial figures, but for all their speed, Sora was even faster, already blurring forward as soon as he detected movement. Oathkeeper sang as he slashed brutally at a wraith, in a simple overhead strike, before leaping easily over it and swiping through it, dispelling it. For the moment, Sora didn't even think about magic, for the instant he'd moved he'd been absorbed in the battle, stretching out his senses until he knew where everything was. And in battle, you didn't waste your magic until you needed to. He was a whirlwind through them, Oathkeeper dancing around his form as he took down wraith after wraith. He felt more than saw thundaga take down several wraiths and grinned, remembering the whole point of this mock battle. Back-flipping high over the wraith's heads, he landed lightly in a crouch, whipping the Keyblade around his body crying "Firaga" as he did so. Fire erupted from Oathkeeper's tip, whipping around the blade and shooting out at his target. Then he widened the spell, and a wave of hot flame lashed at them. He sensed wraiths behind him, trying to ambush him, felt Donald take them out with a concentrated Force spell, and he rolled under the dissipating magic, before surging to his feet and leaping into the air, slashing at a trio of wraiths with a cry as he unleashed a powerful ice spell. Then he really unleashed, spinning through the remaining wraiths, throwing lightning and force spells, fire and ice, and even letting aeroga's winds wrap around his body, though it wasn't needed. Not even slightly out of breath, he regarded the scorched ground, free of any wraiths, and threw a wry smile at Donald.

"Perhaps we should ask for some more so we can show some of our combination spells…" He turned to the watching group, mouth open to ask. The looks on their faces was rather unsettling, and he frowned. They wizards had performed some powerful, intricate spells. Surely nothing Sora had done had caused those looks?

Sora didn't know it, but he _had_ shocked them, and shocked them deeply. It's one thing to hear about other worlds and epic battles and quite another to have a glimpse into the reality…It hadn't really been the spells, although the sheer strength of them had caused breathe to lodge in more than one throat, but more to do with the boy dancing lightly, murderously, through the overwhelming pack, emerging victorious and without a scratch. More to do with the young teen moving with such deadly grace, leaping and flipping through the air, moves that showed constant use, moves that no child should know. And even Donald had been surprising, for while he did not physically combat the wraiths, he had moved easily through the packs, striking swiftly and violently at their weakest points.

"Too easy," Donald cackled. Sora grinned.

"Those are just the basic, run of the mill spells. When Donald, Goofy and I combine strength we can do quite a bit more. And Donald can do transformation magic- before I got these clothes from the three Good Fairies, he was the one that changed us when we needed to fit into different worlds- like ones underwater."

Sora was quickly learning to fear that look on Hermione's face. That kind of obsessive need to know was scary. Professor McGonagall was staring at him as if they'd just met, but Dumbledore merely let his wand fall again, and more silver wraiths began to form, almost double the original number. Sora waved Goofy over, and the trio got into a familiar position, back to back, respective weapons ready. While the wraiths surrounded them, Sora looked over his shoulder at his friends, saying, "We'll let Donald run through a few spells, I'll do a quick change to Valor, and we'll finish on a Trinity Limit, k?" Receiving assent, Sora turned his attention back to the wraiths.

It was all over rather quickly. The wraiths had none of the strengths of the heartless, none of their tricks or their strikes. They were all the same, and to Sora, Donald and Goofy, easy targets. Sora and Goofy leant their magical energy to Donald, not even needing, for such an easy battle, to take any potions to lift their levels. After a few impressive firestorms of magic, Sora nodded and _reached_, reached out from somewhere inside, feeling for his friend's magic, no, more, perhaps his very soul, pulling him inside, merging briefly.

There was an explosion of light, Goofy vanishing from the arena as Sora floated lightly above the ground, his enchanted clothes reflecting his change, battle-red glowing fiercely. He blurred, Keyblades whirling, Oathkeeper in his left, Oblivion is his right. After that, they hardly needed Trinity Limit, but went for it anyway, letting the remaining wraiths edge closer before Sora somersaulted into the air, letting Oathkeeper strike the ground hard as he let their combined energies free. There was an impact to the air, an explosion of light and power, and for a moment, Sora was reminded of how they'd come to this world, just after this very attack…

When the light cleared, no wraiths remained.

"Well, I don't think we need to worry about Summons right now, but otherwise, what level do you think we're at?"

That was Sora. Donald was much less modest in his comments.

--

In the end, Dumbledore let Sora and his friends merge with Harry's year, since the younger years concentrated more on harnessing their magic, and Sora and Donald were clearly ahead in that area. And as for Goofy, he wasn't to be left behind, and a further knowledge of magic couldn't hurt. Dumbledore suggested that perhaps Goofy could help out in the sick-bay, learning more about the various potions used to heal. Dumbledore was fascinated with their cure potions, which Sora couldn't really demonstrate since he was, happily, quite uninjured.

Give him a day or so, at least.

Everyone was ready to leave, but Sora had a question, one he'd been forming when he saw their different applications of magic. For one, Sora and Donald were drained when they used magic. From what he could see, the wizards used far less magic- and Sora thought the strength of their spells might be different. He could see the spells as they formed, like an almost invisible silver mist warping what they touched. Sora and Donald may have less spells, but Sora thought they might just be more powerful. To this end, he asked Dumbledore to hit him.  
With a spell, of course, a non-lethal one preferably, so Sora could see what it did to him.

After a brief discussion with an indignant Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore offered to perform a simple stunning charm, a spell that would simply knock him unconscious for a brief while. Sora let the Keyblade fade, forcing himself to stand still.

"Stupefy!" Weird name…

Sora could see the spell for an instant, forming, as Dumbledore's magic gathered and then lanced forward to strike him dead on.

And nothing happened. Sora looked down, dazed by the red flash of light, where the spell had impacted with no little force against his chest, then up at the astonished group.

"Interesting."

--

Sora had a theory- which was a little odd, because Sora had never claimed to be a thinker. But he hadn't survived his whole 'hero-jaunt' by being completely clueless. And exchanging a rapid-fire slew of questions with Donald, he and Dumbledore came up with an acceptable theory, helped along by Hermione, who was so excited she couldn't remain still. The magicians of Hogwarts used their magic all the time- they could afford to, since they used only a fraction of their power with their spells. Sora and Donald, however, used much more magic creating their spells, and with their constant use and exposure to some of the strongest and most potent of magic's, this made them pretty much immune to the magic of weaker spells. (Sora gradually had gained a resistance to fire spells, for example, as he'd gone along being hit by them. Which had proven useful when fighting that strange nobody, Axel. That didn't mean they didn't do damage, but the damage was lessened.)

Sora wasn't even sure if they could learn this kind of magic- he supposed it was about control. If he tried to float something like Harry had and accidentally blew the roof off, he'd be very embarrassed. Perhaps some of Hogwarts stronger magic's, the Unforgivables, for example, would have an effect. Perhaps not. It wasn't something that could be tested. In the end, Donald had ended the discussion- which had disintegrated into debate, by characteristically blowing up and waddling off in a huff. It had been a very full day, after all, and tomorrow, Sora and Donald would be attempting to learn magic- Hogwart's style.

And that has _got_ to be worth seeing.

**--**

"Here's your room," Professor McGonagall stated, gesturing to a portrait of a blue moon reflecting over a quiet lake. Sora had already seen the Gryffindor common-room when Harry had been showing him some of the castle, so this statement wasn't as confusing as it otherwise would have been.

"We decided it would be better if you three were kept apart from the mainstream students," she said easily over Ron's muttering about the unfairness of them having a room all to themselves.

"I'm sure Mr.Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger will be more than happy to meet you here in the morning and help you around." Ron shut up abruptly, and Harry and Hermione grinned at Sora and the others, nodding happily. This was much more exciting than doing Potions homework or something, and for once, when something odd happened at Hogwarts, they were being involved instead of excluded. Probably only because Sora was their age, but still.

The day was wearing on, so whispering 'Keyblade' to the portrait, Sora lead his friends into their new room- pausing and turning back to tug Donald up over the frame amid indignant squawks. It was a simple room, the portrait opening on a tiny, cozy looking lounge. To the left was a room with three beds in it, and to the right was a bathroom.

Disrupted as they had been from their last sleep, and with a long day of questions and surprises behind them, it didn't take long for the three to fall asleep.

As the Keyblade Master slept deeply, dreaming of home, shadows began to stir, shifting and twisting almost as if they were _alive_. They seemed to be searching.


	4. Magic, Hogwarts style

**Chapter Four- Magic, Hogwarts style…**

Sora managed the entire next day without being attacked, which was lovely but made him very, very paranoid. Well, he wasn't attacked by heartless, but several classes ended with interesting results, and his time with Snape had him waiting for the teacher's murder attempt. Sora didn't know what darkness followed the man, or how or why he'd let it bloom within him, but he did know that the bitter Potion's teacher was, without a doubt, the most unpleasant man he'd ever met. And Sora had battled an angry, insulted Hades before, so that was really saying something. Next time they met, maybe Sora would casually drop a comment about being outdone in the snark department.

Sora also had a slightly more embarrassing problem, one that amused Donald and Goofy no end. He was suffering from a terror he'd never before encountered, constantly on the move as he was.

_Fangirls_.

Between his 'mysterious' arrival, (several of the curious onlookers at the lake had blabbed) his 'quaint' clothing, even under the cloak, not to mention his 'ethereal' looks, Sora had been firmly targeted, and was now, without any subtly whatsoever, being stalked. Sora firmly believed that this counted as 'bothering' the new students, something Dumbledore had warned against in his speech, but no-one else seemed to share his opinion. No, they all seemed far too amused, the bastards. Sora was almost hoping the damn heartless would attack already, so he'd have something to kill, not to mention it would keep the evil horde of girls- and occasional boy- far away. Of course, in defiance of his wishes, a near-miracle occurred and nothing happened in the heartless department. Why did that never happen when he really wanted it, huh? So, followed by a slightly jealous Ron, a highly amused Harry, and a slightly embarrassed Hermione- and the aforementioned amused Donald and Goofy, Sora soldiered on, manfully ignoring the sighs, giggles, and fluttering eyelashes. Other than that, he was really enjoying Hogwarts- the classes were interesting, even though he doubted the spells he was learning would have any affect on the heartless. He did not, in fact, blow any roofs off, but he did send an otherwise harmless snuff-box off on a ricocheting journey around the Charms classroom, whereupon it became a ballistic missile that shattered several delicate and important looking somethings before slamming back onto his desk and playing dead once more. Defense, with someone called Lupin, Sora enjoyed immensely, even after he accidentally set fire to the teacher's desk when a group of pixies surprised him. Aside from a few- explosive results- a.k.a, what would subsequently be known as the Potions Incident by the 6th year Gryffindor's, and never, ever mentioned by the Slytherin's, Sora and co made it through their first real school day without dying, and without killing anyone, and thus deemed it a rousing success. The Gryffindor's agreed, since they were already committing the whole potion's thing to memory, and were considering creating a wall for the occasion. Let's not even mention the Divination classes.

And there wasn't, excuse the pun, a _shadow_ of a heartless.

Yet.

Things were going swimmingly, and Sora and his new friends were having a great time, so of course it makes sense, and follows Murphy's Law, that that was when the whole 'heartless' issue, not to mention the world-saving thing, began to raise their respective, ugly heads. And we haven't yet discovered whatever crazy, deadly plot Voldemort had cooked up. At least Sora got a full day of fun and danger unrelated to anything outside of learning magic in a seriously strange castle. His earlier prediction of two days, however, turned out to be quite accurate, and it was in Care of Magical Creatures that a small group of heartless tried, once more, to rip his heart out.

--

Actually, Sora wasn't all that surprised. He had been expecting something, after all, and with the giant man Hagrid, (who made poor small, slender Sora feel positively miniscule) enthusiastically introducing the class to 'cute', 'little' fire-breathing wyverns, the small group of heartless were kind of pathetic. Although Jiminy was very excited when one of the heartless proved to be an entirely new kind and scolded Sora for killing it too quickly before he could get a proper description, Sora could hardly have cared less what name they would be called. As easy as the attempted invasion of their hearts had been to Sora and his friends, the students in the class- and every teacher at Hogwarts- seemed very disturbed. Sora was just a little irritated, after all he'd clearly warned them about them, so why was everyone acting so surprised and horrified now? Sora was more worried about later on, when the heartless would work their way into the castle, and he'd be back to watching, and feeling, every shadow. Not that he didn't do that now. He was also kind of sad that Hagrid's class had been disrupted, for he'd seemed super nice, and had been absolutely, obsessively, fascinated with Donald and Goofy. Sora could have strangled someone, however, when someone pointed out that Sora had in fact been mer-Sora only two days ago, and Hagrid practically exploded with enthusiasm, asking questions left and right in his thick brogue until Sora was half-convinced the man was about to make a dash for the nearby lake and throw him in so he could get a first-hand view. Not that he didn't like being a mermaid, er, mer_man_, but Hagrid seemed to be taking it rather too far.

That evening at dinner, Dumbledore, after a quick discussion with Sora, once more called for the attention of his students.

"It seems the heartless have started to appear. I once more urge you all to be careful, as these attacks will only increase until the Keyhole has been sealed." Sora was pretty sure this world's Keyhole was somewhere at Hogwarts, and he was rarely wrong.

"Since none of us here are skilled in fighting these dangerous creatures, I am going to have your House heads divide you into groups, that you will remain in at all times outside of your common rooms for your own safety. If heartless are seen, warning must be given immediately to a teacher." Dumbledore glanced across the room at Sora, staring at his youthful features and bright eyes, and sighed softly.

"Or any of our three newcomers, who have faced them before." Dumbledore's countenance became stern as he swept his eyes over the hall, commanding each student to notice.

"Anyone caught breaking these new rules will loose points and be given an immediate detention. Otherwise, I hope you all have a happy, fruitful year here at Hogwarts."

As Dumbledore sat down, the Hall exploded into excited chatter, the current topic being, predictably, the three new 'other-world' students and the dark beasts that had shown up.

Sora sunk low into his seat, trying to ignore the weight of countless curious stares. His new friends supported him with fierce looks, and the whole Gryffindor table rallied in defense of it's newest members. Not that they weren't curious, however.

"Hey, it's Sora, isn't it, do you really come from another world?" Frankly surprised that no-one had yet asked him about this, Sora nodded, then realizing a verbal agreement was needed, voiced a quiet yes. This seemed to impress them, and emboldened by his answer, dozens of questions were flung at him, until, laughing, he lifted his hands and managed to quiet them.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it, sorry, it's not allowed. But yes, we come from a different world, yes, we fight the heartless- and what do you mean do I have a girlfriend?!" When he refused to answer anymore they left him alone, but he heard them whispering to each other, speculating, and throwing dark looks at the Gryffindor trio, guessing correctly that they knew more than they were saying.

And so passed another relatively peaceful day at Hogwarts.

The night was to be far less quiet.

--

Sora had noticed early on differing levels of intelligence in the heartless. The little heartless, the ones he'd first met and what he'd turned into when he'd briefly died, were pretty mindless. They hungered blindly after hearts, attracted by their light, and were easy to outmaneuver. Other kinds of heartless, however, were not so mindless. While not up to doing mathematics or discussing philosophy, they were none the less up to levels of animal cunning Sora would never have expected. And unlike the sad little attack outside the castle, Sora never saw this one coming.

He'd been sleeping, although not deeply, and he could distantly hear Goofy snoring and Donald's sleep-muttering. They tended not to keep watch when sleeping in actual buildings, for various reasons, although the idea of heartless etiquette (what-not-to-do-when- trying- to- kill- people- at- home) was not one of them. It just happened so rarely. Sure, they'd attack the instance you set foot out the door, but not in a 'safe' room, a room that for whatever reason heartless didn't enter. Sora, Keyblade Master, and possessor of an extremely bright heart, was evidently cause for the breaking of this unwritten rule, however.

He rolled over in his sleep, trying to block out the sound of his friends. Unnoticed, the dark shadows in the room suddenly got a lot darker, and something shifted near the window-sill, flickering underneath the light cast by the moon outside. The window was open, an oversight in hindsight, perhaps.

Perhaps not, as well, for the heartless didn't need windows.

A thin strip of moonlight lay across the floor, and cut across the three beds. There was a dark whisper that had nothing to do with the wind, and the shadows surged, a dark pulse of energy, as heartless suddenly _erupted_ from every shadow in the room. Sora woke, feeling it, catapulting himself with a cry, covers and all, to the floor. He rolled, the Keyblade biting into his white-knuckled grip as he deflected a flying heartless's slash at his throat. Donald and Goofy had awoken at his cry, and were desperately trying to free themselves from their beds, as well as defend themselves from the sudden horde invading what had seconds before been a calm, sleepy scene.

Seeing their trouble, Sora was a desperate whirl of fury, spinning Oathkeeper so fast it was merely a silver blur, cutting into the heartless he could hardly see, they camouflaged so well. A burst of flame from Donald set his bed alight as the little Mage fought his way to Sora's side, joined by Goofy who had grabbed his covers and flung them over the attacking heartless, momentary blinding them as he gained his feet.

The small room worked against them as they fought for maneuvering room, wildly ducking blows and furniture. Sora preferred aerial combat, which let him come at his enemy from a variety of angles, but was forced into hack'n'slash combat. He flung up another desperate aeroga.

There were so many of them in the small room that they were blocking the moonlight out, but in the end the small room worked against the heartless as well, as their overwhelming numbers crowded them in so they couldn't properly strike.

Finally, overwhelmed by the close quarters fight and terrified for his friends, Sora _reached_, stretching out and pulling Donald and Goofy inside as he transformed into Master Form for the first time. Armed with two Keyblades, mind swirling with knowledge not his own, Sora became an army of one as he destroyed every last heartless with incredible speed. Then suddenly the room was empty, the heartless gone, leaving only a dark miasma in the air and the memory of sharp claws, heavy wings and overwhelming hatred.

Sora slumped to his knees, his glowing form suddenly reverting back to normal, Goofy and Donald sitting beside him, slightly dazed.

The sound turned back on, and he could hear someone yelling something from outside of the portrait.

--

'Someone' turned out to be several frantic Gryffindor's including Harry and his friends, who asked a barrage of desperate questions, babbling about hearing odd noises, all the while telling them it was okay, they'd sent for a teacher.

Apparently, Sora's little room lived right across the hall from the Gryffindor common-room.

Funny how he hadn't noticed that.

Before Sora could really process what had just happened, with Donald cautiously poking his way around the thoroughly-and we do mean thoroughly- destroyed room, Professor McGonagall arrived at a run.

Sora blinked at her, still leaning against the portrait frame, pulling himself out of unexpected-battle mode and into something that resembled coherence.

"What on earth happened here? Mr.Weasley said something about a fight."

A bloody miniature war, Sora thought darkly.

"You could say that."

Sadly, Sora wasn't allowed to go back to sleep, as Professor McGonagall, having taken a cursory glance into their bedroom, shrieked in horror, her wand gripped tightly in one hand. To be fair to the normally un-flusterable teacher, the room was completely trashed, fire spells had left impressive scorch marks on the wall, and claws had left gouges over almost every available surface. Shooing her gryffindor's back to bed, Professor McGonagall all but dragged the confused trio to the hospital wing, muttering about dangerous creatures and young boys that shouldn't be fighting. As Sora was quite firmly deposited onto a bed in the white healing wing by a flustered McGonagall, and joined by an equally flustered Madame Pomfrey, he finally managed to get a question in.

"What the hell is wrong?!" Donald and Goofy seemed equally lost.

"What is wrong? What is _wrong_? Child, you're covered in blood!" Sora blinked, looking down. It had been a brutal, close-quarters battle, and his magical clothes were looking a little worse for the wear.

"Oh, this? Don't worry, not much of it's mine." And before either teacher could say anything to _that_ statement, Sora waved a hand over himself, concentrating and performing a quick curaga. Green light with golden overtones instantly surrounded the boy, wrapping him in waves of soothing healing magic. He was mostly bruised, but a few nasty cuts and one wicked slice over his chest healed over instantly. His fairy made clothing, bless it, also finished 'healing' and even managed to vanish the blood stains. (And these people had wanted him to change clothes! Honestly.)

"See?" Sora beamed up at the two gaping teachers, absently trying to wipe a splatter of blood off one pale cheek. His clothes were now blood-free, but they only cleaned themselves, not him.

Hmm. He wondered if these wizards had any spells for that. But speaking of blood and wounds, Sora looked over at Donald and Goofy, just to make sure they were alright. They were, although Donald was just performing a quick healing spell over himself, and seemed to be trying to smooth his feathers back into place.

Madame Pomfrey found her voice.

"You, you just…all at once! All of it!" And before Sora could decipher enthusiastic healer-babble, she lunged forward and grabbed him, titling his head to the side, running a professional hand over his chest where he'd been wounded only seconds before.

"Hey! I'm fine!" Sora was freaking just a little. His sleep had been interrupted _again_, he'd just been in a vicious fight, and he didn't want to have to answer an overexcited healer's questions, no matter how nice she was.

"I'm sorry about the room, Professor McGonagall, but I didn't expect- that is, heartless generally don't-oh hell, it was probably someone from the Organization that did it. And you wouldn't believe how much it sucks trying to fight that many heartless when you barely have room to spin a Keyblade."

She seemed to be trying to process this. Meanwhile, Madame Pomfrey was waving her wand over his head, muttering to herself, as if determined to find something wrong with him. Sora titled his head a little uneasily, watching the odd light flash from her wand and settle over him. Finally, she stopped, lips pursed.

"Mr.- uh, Sora, that is, what on earth kind of spell was that?"

Sora thought it had been pretty obvious.

"A cure spell, Professor, that's all." He wanted to find a nice warm bed, somewhere safe, like Hollow Bastion- Radiant Garden now, and sleep uninterrupted for a good eight hours. He wanted Leon and Aerith and Yuffie, who could watch their back for them, and knew all about cure spells and everything else. Not going to happen, he knew.

"That's all? But child, it healed you! All at once! Muscles, skin…It was a single spell performing multiple functions…"

Professor McGonagall may not have met anyone else from other worlds, but she knew children, and she recognized that tight, miserable expression hovering around Sora's eyes.

"Enough, Poppy, let's put Sora and his friends somewhere safe and back into bed. It's very late- sorry, very early now. He can answer questions later."

And she led a grateful Sora and his friends away from the white wing, and towards what he recognized as the way to the headmaster's office. He sighed a little.

"Don't worry about your old room, Sora. We'll have a quick chat with the headmaster and then we'll find a room better, ah, defendable."

Sora supposed he could understand that.

--

Sora wasn't sure if Professor Dumbledore had already been awake, or if he just had odd taste in sleepwear. Considering his 'normal' clothes, this is all too possible. He met them in his office, sucking somberly on one of his beloved lemon-drops.

"Well, Sora, trouble does indeed seem to follow you."

He saw him wince, and continued before Donald or Goofy could leap to his defense.

"Now, now, it's not your fault, child. Not at all. But we will have to see to different sleeping arrangements."

He tugged thoughtfully at his beard. For a long moment there was silence in the office. Sora, miserably looking around for anything to distract him, saw a flash of red and gold behind the headmaster. His breathe caught. It was a bird, a big one, the size of a swan and colored brilliantly, long tail feathers swishing, and bright eyes fixed unblinkingly on him. He knew instantly what it was- light and fire. (No, he didn't magically realize it was a phoenix.) It was lovely, a bright flare of light to his senses, and completely forgetting about everyone around him, Sora lifted his arms to the bird, calling silently. Imperiously, and with silent grace, the flame-bird spread it's wings and glided from it's perch on the window-frame to rest lightly on his lap. Awed, Sora ran his fingers lightly over soft, warm feathers, murmuring praise. Equally impressed, the phoenix stretched out it's neck to run it's long beak through his wild hair, humming and crooning with lovely tones, as if about to burst into song. Completely wrapped up in each other, the phoenix and the Keyblade Master were unaware of anything occurring around them.

Dumbledore watched them with a slight, whimsical smile, while McGonagall blinked back tears. Turning to Donald and Goofy, Dumbledore smiled.

"I think I've got it. I'm afraid, that despite the extra security on the dorms, I cannot risk the younger students. However, since the heartless are drawn to the Keyblade, I have the perfect solution. The Room of Requirement, you may remember, is the room we used in our demonstration the other day. Once you are inside, the magic makes you unreachable to anyone outside. While you are inside, you will be safe from the heartless. That will be your room for the duration of your stay." And beaming, he stole another lemon-drop.

"Minerva, if you would escort them?"

McGonagall murmured an assent, and began to lead them out of the room. However, Sora and Fawkes were still wrapped up in each other, and didn't even notice.

"Sora?"

Reluctantly, Sora tore his attention away from the phoenix in his lap, his whole body radiating peace and contentment.

"You've met Fawkes, I see. He is a phoenix, and I'm sure the two of you will see a lot of each other during your stay. For now, however, it would be best if you got some sleep. Professor McGonagall will lead you to your new room." Sora sighed, but gently picked the phoenix up and placed him on Dumbledore's desk.

"Bye," he whispered to him, running a finger down Fawkes' soft chest. "I'll see you soon, okay?" He turned and walked to where McGonagall waited for him, Donald slightly impatient and Goofy understanding. The phoenix watched him go, half-spreading his wings and emitting a low, sad sound as he lost sight of him. Dumbledore soothed him, running a hand down his back. He'd never seen the bird so happy or so sad.

"He must have a very special heart, Fawkes, for you to react so." But, Dumbledore observed to himself as he strode over to the fireplace and threw a handful of floo-powder in, it was if Fawkes had recognized a kindred spirit. But what kind of boy could compare to the immortal phoenix?

Sora, Donald and Goofy settled quickly into their new rooms, and safe from any heartless ambushes, slept well and deeply.

--

The staff meeting the next morning, sorry, _later_ that morning, was a hushed affair, teachers swapping tidbits of information like gossiping kids as they waited for Dumbledore to arrive. As it had been for the last few days, it was all about Sora and his odd companions. Well, the heartless got mentioned too.

"Keyblade?" Mused Professor Flitwick. "You would think that such a thing would have been heard of before."

"Well, it probably is well known, back on their world."

"Come now," and this was Snape, "You don't honestly believe all that twaddle about other worlds, do you? I would have expected better from you, Minerva." Professor McGonagall pinned him with an imperious stare.

"Well frankly, Severus, you've managed to live up to my expectations of you unfailingly. And that isn't a compliment."

"Note," Professor Flitwick interjected before a famous Slytherin/Gryffindor dispute could erupt, "That Donald and Goofy are clearly unlike anything on our world. And that sweet young boy, Sora, was some version of a merman when we saw him at the lake. Obviously other worlds are different."

"That _sweet_, young _boy_ got into a fight last night, completely trashed a room, and frightened several students when he appeared covered head to foot in blood!"

The other teachers burst into animated discussion, but Professor McGonagall leaped to her newest lion's defense with great indignation.

"Severus! I wouldn't have expected such a thing, even from you. The poor dear and his friends were sleeping when they were horribly attacked, they hardly went looking for a fight. The Gryffindor's were merely trying to help when they heard the fight, and for shame, Severus, blaming a boy for being covered in blood, as if he wished to be!" Hagrid grunted agreement, and Filius nodded. Completely untouched, Severus curled his lip in his trademark sneer and said silkily,

"Not his fault, eh? From what I've heard, it's that Keyblade of his that's causing all this trouble. Attracting heartless…" He trailed off with a mock sigh. Minerva swelled with indignation, hands clenching into fists.

"We're in fine form today, aren't we _Sevvie_." She watched him stiffen with satisfaction.

"But haven't you paid even the slightest attention? The Keyblade chooses the wielder, not the other way round, and the heartless attack everywhere, not just where Sora is!"

"He's a danger to this school! To it's students! Or have you forgotten that? For all we know, this 'Keyblade' could be some trick of the Dark Lord, and you're all falling for it!"

"Are you _completely blind_? Or are you just making a special effort today? Can't you _feel_ it? You, a Potion's Master, going on about the subtle complexities of your art- and you can't feel the sheer power in that boy? The sheer light?" Minerva broke off, cheeks flushed.

"The only thing I've noticed is the darkness that follows him!" The Transfiguration teacher slumped a little, and her eyes, fixed on Snape behind her glasses, were sad.

"So you'll blame an innocent child who's been through hell for your own shortcomings. Congratulations, you've sunk to an all new low- and I thought your treatment of Harry was bad." She leaned forward.

"You _disgust_ me." And she stalked from the room like an angry cat, leaving an almost awed silence behind.

Looked like Flitwick didn't manage to avoid the Gryffindor/Slytherin dispute, after all…

Snape sat stiffly at his place at the end of the table, avoiding all eyes. The fireplace suddenly flared, and Dumbledore chose that moment to join them, unfolding out of the green fire and smiling benignly around the still hushed room.

"Well, now. What's on the agenda today?"

--

Happily unaware of the sensation he was causing, Sora was at that moment stretching out sleepily, having slept solidly through to morning. While still spooked by the heartless attack the previous night, the safety of his new room, and the prospect of a new day kick-started his enthusiasm, and he bounded to his feet, calling to Donald and Goofy joyfully.

"Come on, get up, we've got secret passages to find, magic classes to attend- and food to eat!"

Not to mention heartless to kill.

School had never been this fun when he'd attended at home.

--

Sora also had another idea. As much fun as he was having here, he knew it would be better to find and lock the Keyhole so he could get back to looking for Riku and King Mickey. He wasn't sure what part he was supposed to play in the coming days in concern to Voldemort, but he was confident that with the help of his friends, he could do anything.

A good night's sleep and a conversation with a phoenix had evidently done wonders for his disposition.

And so began another day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And unofficially, also of Trouble, Secrets, and Challenges. (See Harry's time there for further proof. Pick any year.)


	5. Friends and enemies

**Chapter Five- Friends and enemies**

A week passed, and in-between running to help people with heartless and blowing thing up in class, life was a blast for Sora and pals. But this relative, er, peace, wasn't to last.

The big heartless attack happened with little in the way of warning one calm summer's day, as Sora and a large percentage of the school were sitting down to lunch in the Great Hall. Sora was relaxing after another disastrous Divination class. (The batty sometimes-seer had apparently decided Sora was at least as likely to die as Harry was, and thus made several colorful predictions. Unfortunately for her, Donald had taken her predictions as threats, and so preceded to attack her with a storm of angry cries and the occasional, painful thunderbolt…enough said.)

So Sora was enjoying a well deserved break after an interesting morning. He was chatting to Harry about evil teachers- i.e., Snape-when he suddenly felt a chill within his soul.

A shadow flickered.

Sora's eyes widened and he leapt to his feet with a yell, spilling books and his goblet of juice to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Dumbledore, heartless are coming! _Lots_ of them. You need to get everybody out, I'll distract 'em!" Which immediately caught people's attention, and they immediately began to do what any student trained in the mystic arts about to be attacked by creatures wanting to rip out your heart do- they panicked.

Wasting no time, Sora was on his feet, vaulting over the table and flipping easily to stand in the middle of the hall, Keyblade shimmering into existence. He was aware of Donald and Goofy following as he waited, and he could feel the heartless creeping, shifting, attention focused on him, on his weapon and the brightness of his heart.

They hungered.

Sora was deliberately baiting them, trying to entice them after him while the teachers tried to help calm the stampeding students and get them out. He could here Dumbledore's enhanced voice cut across the insanity, but didn't hear the words. He was focused.

And then the heartless came. Springing from shadows under the tables, surging up from the floor and racing down from the roof, they all lunged towards the boy holding the big key. Screams filled the hall, but Sora and his friends never hesitated. Oathkeeper was a blur as he struck, Donald and Goofy fighting at his back.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were also back to back, standing near one of the doors, shepherding people out and keeping a watch on the heartless. For now, they were far more interested in the feast that waited in the middle of the room, the ultimate heart, but soon they would begin to hunt for others…

The teachers too, had taken their wands in hand, and as the students began to empty the hall, they fought this unfamiliar enemy from the fringes. In the centre was a boiling pot of chaos.

There were so _many_ of them. Whoever was directing them- and with this many, there had to be someone- was evidently going for the kill. Sora swept his shining blade to the left, then to the right, then spun it in a figure of eight before himself, knocking heartless back from his chest.

From his heart. Not only were the small, simple versions of the heartless attacking, no, Sora could see many different types- flying heartless, spider heartless, and countless others. His mouth tightened, his eyes hardened, and Sora leaped forward with a defiant "Come on now!"

He needed a little space to do what he needed to, and he trusted Donald and Goofy.

"Go for a Trinity!" He yelled, hoping they heard him over the mayhem.

He felt the answering tingle of magic burning through his veins. He took a step back, then leapt high into the air with a yell, scissoring the Keyblade around him, ripping open a flying heartless and coating himself with dark blood. A shining heart lifted free. He fell, twisting, back to earth, and using all of his strength, and the strength of his fall, he brought Oathkeeper singing towards the floor.

"Trinity Limit!"

The teacher's of Hogwarts blinked as an explosion of light wrapped around the three, magic ripping fatally around them, snapping at the heartless. When it faded, there was a ten-foot radius of nothing around them where before there had been heartless.

Taking advantage of the brief lull, Sora shot forward, flinging fire spells at the monsters, killing a few of the weaker types and merely singeing others. Leaping onto Hufflepuff table, Sora used the added height to soar upwards, coming down on the backs of a few of the more irritating, and more dangerous, flying type heartless.

Yellow eyes followed him, hating and yearning.

Goofy and Donald were covering Harry and his friends, who were actually managing to hold their own pretty well. With the rest of the students finally out, Sora ran over the top of one of the tables towards the teachers.

They were causing damage, but not killing them.

"Get outta here!" He yelled to them when he was closer.

It was a waste of time, he knew. They were the adults, the teachers, they felt they needed to be here, when in fact they were mostly a liability. Except for Dumbledore. Whatever he was flinging at the heartless was slow, but worked.

Snarling in frustration over their stubbornness, Sora zigzagged in front of them, catching the attention of the heartless. He stopped running, spinning on his heel, and whipped the Keyblade through them like a whirlwind of death and causal destruction. (The Great Hall would need serious repairs. But then, they had magic.) A heartless managed to tear into his back from behind and he spun again, furious, and grateful for the protection of his magical clothing. They'd made a dint in the mob, but it was time to get serious. Sora took a breathe, and thought of Valor Form.

No, not enough. He needed serious firepower, for longer. He needed the two Keyblades the change brought, but mostly he just needed to end this now before someone got hurt. Sora managed a quick Summon, calling Tinkerbell out to heal anyone that had been hurt.

He'd managed to change, the other night, he thought as he whipped Oathkeeper though dark flesh. He'd known the Form, felt it's strength, but it had frightened him.

Did he dare?

He heard Hermione scream, heard Harry yell something and Ron curse.

He dared.

He reached, pulling. Magic whispered in his blood and then grew to a roar. His clothes shifted as he was lifted above the ground, glowing brilliantly. Donald and Goofy's strength joined his own, strength so often underestimated.

"_**Master Form**_!" Did he say that, or was it the magic?

It didn't matter. Oathkeeper in his left hand, Oblivion in his right, he was once again an army of one, a rage of strength and magic as he shot around the room at super speed, killing every heartless he touched.

Suddenly released from the transformation, he fell some eight feet from where he'd been blasting a flying heartless, somersaulted and landed in a crouch, swaying lightly. He heard Goofy regain his feet, assuming a guard position, and heard irritated mutterings as a certain duck wizard managed a weak cure.

Was it over? Sora lifted his head, still a little confused by his change, and saw a handful of heartless were left, menacing the golden trio.

Sora twitched, fists tightening. How dare they try to hurt his friends! Without hesitating he shot across the room to spin in front of them, and bared his teeth at the heartless, eyes glowing in fury.

Just innocent children…

He spun Oathkeeper, leaping into an Arc Arcanum, followed by another. He flung Oathkeeper into a strike-raid, knocking a heartless from the air. A low-built heartless tried to get in low under his guard, and Sora wiped it from existence with Oblivion, twisting the dark blade back up and across the chest of the last flying heartless, Oathkeeper guarding in his other hand.

And then it was all over, and Sora was panting lightly as he stood, still in a combat position, in front of his friends, head twisting around, senses extended, to find that nothing was left. Then he noticed the fact that he was holding two Keyblades, and his mouth fell open.

_He wasn't in any of his Forms…_

As he stared, completely flummoxed, Tinkerbell flitted overhead and flew around him, releasing magic as she did so. His back healed. He managed a smile of thanks as she lightly touched his cheek in concern, before darting off to check on the teachers.

--

With the danger passed, the teachers split, some heading off to comfort and control the student body, and the others walking towards the two trios.

Sora was still staring at his two Keyblades when Tinkerbell came soaring back, finished with her task and out of time. She spun around him again in concern, making a variety of sweet, tinkling sounds, before flaring brightly and vanishing.

Hermione cried out, and Sora twisted, whipping Oathkeeper up high and Oblivion down low. Her hands were clasped over her mouth and she was staring horrified at the spot where the little fairy had been. Sora let his breathe out in a rush.

"It's alright, Hermione, she's okay, she just couldn't stay any longer." Hermione managed to pull her gaze away from the empty air to stare at him.

"Are you guys alright?" The three were staring at him with something like awe.

"Sora, you, you were _amazing_. You moved so fast you blurred, and you were glowing, and do you have TWO Keyblades?!" Sora would have scratched his head in embarrassment, but he was still holding tight to the two Keyblades in question, hardly able to believe it either. He was holding Oathkeeper AND Oblivion, both at the same time, outside of one of his Forms.

Which was awesome, but also confusing. Someone cleared their throat behind him, and Sora turned and looked at Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick.

"Uh, hi?"

--

No-one had died. Sora felt his lungs finally cooperate, and beamed at the teachers.

"That's great." He couldn't get any of the rest of his thoughts past that relief.

"You risked a great deal, Sora," Dumbledore said sternly, though he couldn't keep his eyes from twinkling.

"What if you'd been hurt?" Sora stared at them in disbelief. Risked a great deal? Hello, he fought the heartless on a regular basis! It was his job! And even if it he didn't, they'd still come after him. And he _had_ been hurt, though not badly, but he'd been hurt before and would be again. Luckily he had great friends, and he was an incredible fighter all by himself. He'd been in far worse situations.

Somehow, he didn't think pointing that out would help.

"We did what we had to, Professor. I risked nothing that I do not risk every time I get into a fight." He tried to think of something else to say.

"Er, did Tink manage to heal everyone?"

"Tink?" Professor McGonagall was very good at sounding incredulous, even after a good fight with her hair messy and her robes torn.

He was still a little smug that _his_ clothes were self-healing.

"Yeah, Tinkerbell. The little blonde fairy I Summoned during the fight? She normally stays with Peter Pan, but she's traveling with us for a while, and stayed after Kingdom Hearts…" He coughed on his laughter at the looks on their faces as they processed this statement.

Pause.

"Peter Pan is REAL??" Right on time, Hermione.

"Wait, you've heard of Peter? Really?"

--

The teachers didn't take the news of a probable Organization Thirteen member orchestrating fights around Hogwarts well at _all_. They also didn't like finding out that Sora didn't know much about the mysterious group.

"Well, you see, me'n Donald and Goofy woke up in this mansion, and we'd been sleeping or something for ages, in these weird little flower-like pod things. And these guys in black cloaks have been running around. We don't know what they're doing exactly but we know it's something to do with Kingdom Hearts."

"…"

"Kingdom Hearts? Come on, I told you about it, with the Door and all…Big, epic-style type battle? Fought the Ansem guy that may not have actually been Ansem at all…" Sora rocked back onto his heels, staring at them all quizzically.

"I wasn't lying or just making up a story. We lived through it."

At least Dumbledore seemed to be following.

"Okay," Sora sighed. "Let's try this again. Heartless, Keyholes, Keyblade…"

--

Sora had only really seen the faces of a few Nobodies, like Axel.

Axel…Shivers shot down his spine. It wasn't necessarily the Nobody that scared him- although the flame-using, chakram wielding man was definitely worthy of fear. No, what scared him was the strange feeling that he somehow knew him. Sora tasted real fear on his tongue. Last time they'd met, he'd- Sora yanked his thoughts back on track. There was no point in worrying about it now. What came, came. He'd simply have to deal with it when it did.


	6. Reflections of self

**Chapter Six- Reflections of self**

Later that night, Dumbledore tracked around the castle, stopping in four very precise spots, and whispering four very precise phrases. When he was finished, he stepped back, and appeared to be listening. Whatever he heard, or didn't hear, seemed to make him happy. He'd raised one of the castle's oldest wards, which would hopefully help protect the students, and keep out some of the heartless.

--

_He never noticed the figure watching him, impossibly, from atop the astronomy tower, lips curved in dark amusement. His black coat whipped wildly in the wind, but he was seemingly unconcerned about his precarious position._

_The wards didn't appear to bother him at all._

_--_

After the dramatic battle the day before, Hogwarts was abuzz with rumors. Poor Sora couldn't turn around without hearing his name. Eyes followed his every movement. Harry, understanding exactly what Sora was going through, stuck fiercely to his side throughout it all. Donald offered to fry a few students until they left him alone, but Sora wouldn't hear of it. (Well, he thought about it, but pushed the thought away as uncharitable.)

It wasn't long after this that Sora formally met one Draco Malfoy, bane of Gryffindor's in general and Harry Potter in particular.

It didn't start well. But then, it didn't end well.

--

Here's how it all started…

Picture the lake, serene and unruffled under a calm sky. Hagrid was leading a class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. There's potential for trouble, right there. Sora, Fawkes settled firmly on one shoulder, (a familiar image around Hogwarts), was talking with Hermione about their current assignment. Hagrid was leading them towards what appeared to most, as a temporary enclosure filled with nothing. Sora and Harry, however, saw differently.

At first, Sora thought they must have been from Halloween Town, these oddly beautiful skeletal horses. They had rich, full manes and huge leathery wings.

"Bizarre," Sora whispered to Harry, "Straight out of Halloween Town."

"They are rather-different," Harry said slowly. Hermione turned her face to them, frowning. Ron was staring around, confused.

"What are you talking about, you two? There's nothing there." Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Are you telling me you don't see the big, scary horses?" Hagrid had clearly heard them talking, for he raised his big, booming voice to be heard.

"Now then, raise your hands if you can see today's lesson." Exchanging confused glances, Harry and Sora lifted their hands. After a moment, a pale blonde girl with a permanently unconcerned expression, raised hers as well.

"Alright, there 'arry? Can ye describe what you see?" Still confused, Harry did, Sora occasionally throwing in a comment.

"For those of ye who haven't figured it out yet, these 'ere are Thestrals." Hermione gasped in recognition.

"The only people who can see Thestrals are those who have seen death. They're attracted to blood and are among some of the sweetest animals I've ever met." The giant man smiled fondly. The class stared at him, then at the seemingly empty paddock. Ew, Sora thought, attracted to blood?

"How do we know there's really anything there at all? Maybe Potter's seeing things. Wouldn't be the first time, after all…" Sora turned around to stare at the owner of the drawling voice.

Then he did something very strange, for Sora. He fell in instant dislike. On his shoulder, Fawkes hissed, a sound like spitting coals.

Hagrid ignored the pale blonde boy with the ugly expression, pulling a bag off his back and pulling several bloody lumps of meat out. The class drew back as one in horror. Hagrid threw the meat into the pen, and Sora and Harry watched the Thestrals trot towards it eagerly, wings rustling. A girl screamed, pointing, as some of the meat began to vanish, apparently, into thin air. Even Blonde Boy shifted closer in interest. As Hagrid began to tell the class all about the 'invisible' Thestrals, the blonde shifted closer to Harry and said in a quiet sneer,

"So, Potter, killed anyone else lately?" Harry flinched, furious, but Sora whipped around in shock and stared him in the eyes. Fawkes ruffled his feathers, agitated.

"Who the hell are you, blondie?" Now, Sora was normally never this rude, but Harry was his friend, and what the boy had just said was so inconsiderate it was bordering on sadistic.

"Obviously a mudblood, from what I've heard of you. _My_ name is Draco Malfoy. You're name is Sora, or something common like that, isn't it?" Fawkes made an odd rumbling noise.

"I don't know what a mudblood is, and I don't care," Sora said, very quietly.

"Sora is my name as Draco is yours- for the same reasons. Because that's what our parent's named us. You speak to me- and my friends, as if you are somehow superior. From what I've seen, there's no evidence of that. You are rude, cruel, and inconsiderate; hardly desirable traits. You mock the death and loss of others because you have no understanding of it. Good for you. I would never wish that pain on anyone. _But neither will I stand by and let you hurt others with your careless tongue. So get out of my sight before I give in to the urge to let Oblivion taste your blood."_

Sora's voice took on a steely edge, and almost against his will, Draco stepped back, merging with the class. Harry reached out tentatively and touched Sora's shoulder.

"Thanks. That was as cool as the time Hermione punched him."

"Surely not. But no problem. Anything for a friend." Which would be a lovely spot to leave things, but the encounter wasn't over yet.

Not one to give in gracefully, Draco had decided to go for some petty revenge. Which just proves that Draco can be remarkably unintelligent at times, because if past experience is anything to go by- and it is- this was going to end badly.

--

Hagrid was just finishing up when Draco sidled up to the gate and slipped the lock loose. Curious, friendly creatures like Thestrals can't really help themselves- and since only a few people there could see them, no-one noticed when the gate suddenly yawned open and a Thestral stuck it's head through the gap. It didn't take Hagrid long to notice the open gate, but by then almost the entire small herd were wandering around by the lake. Sora looked up, feeling eyes on him, and was very surprised to meet the friendly stare of an un-penned Thestral.

It didn't seem dangerous. In fact, it seemed a little adoring, as it reached forward and nudged it's muzzle against his chest. Fawkes rocked with the sudden movement, and stuck his head down to stare the Thestral dead in the eye, making a humming sound.

Sora made a soft squeaking noise himself, freezing in place. He felt no fear of the odd creature, but he was cautious as he reached out with one hand and stroked his fingers through the dark, glossy violet mane. Fawkes made another series of sounds, faintly reprimanding, and Sora laughed softly as he raised his other hand to stroke the fire-bird's chest. Happy hums resumed.

"Er, Harry?"

"I'm a little busy right now."

"Let me guess, you're busy with a Thestral."

"Yeah, how'd you- you too, huh?"

"Yep."

"Malfoy, you reckon?"

"Yep."

"…They're kind of cute, aren't they?"

A girl screamed. (She'd felt something she couldn't see brush past her, and freaked.)

Considering that lately people who screamed were generally being attacked by heartless, and that anything can happen in a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, the resulting panic was a little justifiable.

Could have been worse, really.

However, the poor Thestrals, happily investigating outside of their pen, were quite startled by the strident shriek, and freaked as well. Nothing would have come of it, however, if people could just see them.

People always fear what they can't see- the unknown. So they panicked, and the Thestrals, feeling that panic, began to look around in panic as well. Hagrid immediately began to whistle, pulling out more meat from his pack and flinging it into the pen. The Thestrals began to wheel about, galloping towards the promised haven. Between them and the promised haven, however, was a group of panicked students. Sora swore, as he was one of the few that could them. He grabbed hold of his Thestral's mane and led it quickly into the pen, Harry doing the same a half-step behind. Fawkes burst into a series of high, sweet notes, leaping off his shoulder and began to swoop among the Thestrals, trying to lead them safely through the children. Hagrid was yelling at everyone to get to the side, and Sora saw Draco, smirking, thinking himself safe behind the others. Sora also saw the last panicked Thestral closing in from behind him, running along the lake's edge.

Sora didn't like Draco. He thought he was an arrogant, insensitive bully, and it would be ironic if his plan worked against him.

He still didn't hesitate, breaking into a run, yelling at the blonde-headed prat to get out of the way. Fawkes followed high overhead, singing with heartrending beauty.

Draco appeared to have bad reflexes, and cursing, Sora did the only thing he could. He leapt, as high as he could, and glided straight over the others and into Draco at full speed- and knocking them both into the lake.

The Thestral thundered past, galloping straight back into the enclosure and fell on the raw meat inside. Hagrid locked the gate behind it, then hurried forward with the others to the lake's edge.

--

Draco and Sora surfaced, Draco gasping. The sheer force of their impact had knocked the breath from their lungs, and they'd tumbled deeper into the lake. If they hadn't fallen in the shallows, Draco, a poor swimmer, might have drowned.

Sora wouldn't have drowned, however. As you may recall, his enchanted clothing being submerged in water has an interesting effect. The vanishing for one, and the transformation from human Sora to Sora with-dolphin-tail. He huffily breathed several lungfuls of water, then with a sigh gave into the inevitable, letting himself surface. Remembering the crowd sure to meet him, he almost turned tail- literally- and vanished into the lake's depths. And he just _knew_ Draco wouldn't be grateful for saving his life.

He was right.

Draco was shrieking about his destroyed robes, his face twisted with what looked to be genuine horror. His hair was clinging to his face, making him appear more like a drowned rat than a pureblood aristocrat. Several Slytherin's finally struggled forward to pull the flailing prat from the water, while the Gryffindor's laughed unrestrainedly. Harry and Hermione were already knee-deep in water, anxiously looking for him, and Sora gave them a sheepish smile and mouthed 'help.' Naked except for his silver crown medallion, he flicked his powerful tail once and drove himself easily to the lake's edge. Getting out of the water, however, would require help. (He could 'beach' himself, but it would look ridiculous and with so many people hanging around, at least one could damn well help out.) He wished Donald or Goofy were in this lesson. Harry and Hermione had seen his problem- in the shallow water the sunlight reflected off of his tail, and they, along with a wide-eyed Ron, edged around to keep him out of sight as much as possible.

"Harry, is he alright? Help him out!" Hagrid was looming over them, having pushed his way to the front.

"Er, Hagrid, Sora needs, um, he needs-"

"Privacy," Sora hissed. And a sane life, and legs…

"Yeah, that. Professor, can't you just move everyone away for a bit?" Then Hagrid caught sight of him and Sora blushed, knowing he must have looked ridiculous. In reality, he looked like something out of 'The Little Mermaid' (Cough) with his too blue and too big to be true eyes, long eyelashes, spiky hair and slender form. (Sora was slowly resigning himself to being small and slender forever, unlike, say, Riku, the bastard.)

"Alright, class, back up now, back up, nothing to see here…"

Like saying 'there's nothing to worry about', saying 'there's nothing to see here' always has the opposite effect than was intended. People pushed forward to see what had befallen the Gryffindor.

Apparently they hadn't believed the rumors of him arriving as a merboy, because they erupted into loud chatter, and Sora just wanted to stick his head back under the water.

Hagrid eased a reluctant Harry and co to the side, kneeling down- he still towered over everyone- and stared in fascination. He'd gotten his earlier wish after all. Sora lowered his eyelashes, humiliated, curling his tail around. Maybe he'd just take the time to go for a quick swim and come back later- much later- when everything was dark and empty.

"Professor…"

"Right," Hagrid grunted, tearing his eyes away from Sora for a moment.

"Back up to the castle now, the lot of ye. Go on!" Sora could hear Draco snarling about the 'freak' and how he'd tried to kill him. Sora twitched, despite his embarrassment. If he'd wanted the prat dead, he had much easier ways of doing it. And was Draco actually ranting on about "telling his father about all this, just you wait?"

The class slowly broke off, glancing back frequently, to head back towards the castle. Draco had apparently insulted or threatened Sora once too often, however, for his return was helped along by a very annoyed phoenix. The great bird swooped above the boy, beating at him with his wings, making quick stabs with his golden beak as he hissed and spat like boiling water. (Oddly enough, after that day, the Whomping Willow took a severe dislike to blonde people…and it already had a severe dislike of everyone.)

The day wasn't a complete loss, then. Hogwarts discovered once and for all that Draco _did_ gel his hair, Sora had inadvertently managed to destroy his expensive clothes, and for all intents and purposes, dump him in a lake. Not to mention he'd saved his life.

From an invisible, galloping beast nearly no-one else could see.

And now, _now_, he was in mer-form, in the lake, with someone who looked like he either wanted to pat him or dissect him.

--

Once the class was far enough away that all they could hear was Draco's squealing as he ducked and dodged an angry phoenix, Harry and his friends helped drag their friend onto dry land, where he lay feeling decidedly grumpy.

"Fascinatin', innit?" At least Hagrid was still having a good day.

"And good job with the Thestral, Sora, I know you saved the great prat's life." Seemingly, prat was a term used often to describe Malfoy.

"Draco let them out, you know," Harry offered as he knelt to see if he could help Sora at all. He couldn't help but stare at the pale scars that covered his friends porcelain skin. (Wasn't his home world a tropical island? Shouldn't he be tan?)

"Sounds about right," Hagrid agreed, rubbing his great, bushy beard.

"This is just fascinatin' Sora. Are you alright? Do you need anything?" Harry had a sudden image of Hagrid producing a giant fish tank, collar, and floaty toys, and shuddered.

"No, Professor," Sora sighed, still resigned, blush beginning to fade.

"Sora," said Harry hesitantly, "where'd you get all those scars? From fighting?" Everyone stared at the teen, taking in the marks on his chest. A quick glance at his back showed more. They were faint, silvery, (thank god for cure spells), but noticeable. Sora stiffened, tail twitching in agitation. As Harry watched, he lifted one hand and flared it over his chest, tracing his fingers over an odd scar right over his heart. Horrified, Harry snatched at his hand, pulling it away and staring at the scar.

"Merlin, it's a wonder you didn't _die_." Sora winced, turning his face away.

"I did." The rush of several indrawn breaths.

"What?"

Sora shook his head, trying to dispel the questions, running his hand down his tail, begging it to disappear.

The questions didn't stop, but his tail began to tingle, warmth wrapping around him, and Sora sighed in relief, arcing slightly into the magic's touch as his clothes materialized and his legs formed. He shot to his feet, nearly tripping as his mind caught up with the change.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." And dodging Harry's outstretched hand, he shot off towards the castle, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

Wishing he didn't remember the horror of Kairi's lost heart, of Riku's sneer. The horror of grabbing the dark Keyblade and driving it into his heart, freeing her but loosing himself.

--

Sora was glad to be back with Donald and Goofy again. They already knew all his secrets- most of them, anyway. And they didn't ask painful questions. His hand kept fluttering up to cover his heart, remembering Hollow Bastion, remembered the feel of his heart- breaking? Fleeing? Changing, perhaps. It kept reminding him of Riku and Kairi, who he missed terribly. He knew it was only a matter of time before Harry caught up with him, but for now he appreciated the time away, to organize his thoughts. Destroying a small group of heartless in the hallway, he began to walk back towards his heartless-free rooms. He was looking forward to lying on his bed and thinking things through. As much as he enjoyed Hogwarts, it wasn't home. And at least when he was traveling he had the illusion that he was getting closer to home. He was moving, at least. He paused, fingers stopped over the door handle, frowning. Heartless? He turned, and stared up and down the empty hallway.

Nothing.

Weird, he was sure he'd just felt their kind of darkness, or something like it. He shrugged, it was probably just the taint of a castle overrun with the things.

--

_So, Roxas could sense him. No, he was Sora now. Had been before, and was now again. Without memory of any of it, of course._

_Absolutely delightful. The Nobody was thrilled to see the Keyblade Master's blue eyes, so familiar. He'd grown a little, since he'd seen him. But the eyes- and the hair- remained unchanged. He'd been busy, and lost track of his little one. But here, in this odd world at the edge of forever, he'd found him again._

_Sora…I'll see you real soon…_

_--_

Sora was familiar with all the feelings of impending doom, but was surrounded by so many of them now that he barely even shivered as he lay, hands tucked beneath his head, thinking of everything he'd lost and everything he'd gained.

--

And far away- in terms of on earth, not in the universe, a Dark Lord simmered with hatred and put into play a plan for the destruction of his enemies.

Specifically, a short, dark-haired teen with emerald eyes, who'd had the bloody tenacity to survive, instead of dying like he should have. And a new boy, who it was whispered came from another world, bearing a strange and powerful weapon.

He'd bear watching. Perhaps he could find some use for him.

--

Days passed without Sora finding Hogwarts Keyhole, and he was frustrated, just knowing that it was close by and he had to find it soon. Every day that passed without him finding it made him feel worse. Donald and Goofy too, grew restless, joining him for increasingly long walks through the castle instead of going to class. One evening, as they studied for transfiguration, Sora and his friends came upon an idea.

"You've said you've got mermaids in the lake. Is that true?"

"Course it is! But they look different than you, more like fish, you know, than people. And they speak some weird language." Sora nibbled his lip.

"But the lake is part of Hogwarts, correct?" Harry was puzzled, but answered.

"Yeah, it's part of it's grounds. Dumbledore gets along alright with the mer-folk, but ever since the Tri-Wizard Tournament, they've been real standoffish to humans." Sora was nodding along to himself. He'd looked all around the castle for the Keyhole, but maybe he hadn't found it because it was in the lake. Maybe that was why he'd been dumped in it when he'd first arrived. It was worth taking a look at, anyway. He told Harry this, and watched as his mouth fell open.

"Are you mad? In the lake? With the spear-wielding, human-hating mer-people? Sora, I know you're getting restless, but this is insane."

"Come on Harry, I need to check it out, and besides, I won't be human, I'll be a kind of sea-creature. And Donald and Goofy'll come too."

"They can do that?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Well, if you have to, you have to, but you should tell the teachers first." Sora baulked a little at this, too used to dictating his own movements- except when he was being herded into dangerous traps, of course.

The teachers were thrilled with his idea. Not. Professor McGonagall told Sora- at length- just how mad he was for wanting to go swimming about in the freezing cold lake for something that might not be there and go chatting with a dangerous race that would try to kill him. Sora listened, nodding along at appropriate moments, then when she finished and was catching her breath, calmly told her he was going anyway.

"I really don't have a choice. I get the feeling I'm running out of time. There's something I need in the lake- whether it's the Keyhole or something else." After she regained her proper coloring and decided that there was no changing his mind, she changed direction.

"Fine, then. But if you're going down into that lake you're going down with a time limit- and we'll all be waiting up here for you. And if you're not back in your time limit…" The heavy pause at the end of her sentence had Sora's eyes wide.

"Yes, Ma'am, whatever you say."

--

They decided Sora and his friends should go down midmorning, when there was more light (for the teachers, Sora decided, since it wouldn't matter much to him) and they gave him a three-hour window before they would try anything overtly threatening to try and find him.

Sora was touched as he realized they were worried about him. But he knew everything was going to turn out just fine.

It was a little procession that stood on the wharf- Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Lupin, and the Golden Trio. Sora stood at the edge of the wharf, watching the play of the water. Dumbledore was watching him closely.

"Three hours now, my boy…here." Dumbledore passed him a shimmering orb, full of light.

"It obeys the lumos command. It's charmed to follow you, so it won't get lost."

"Thanks, sir. We'll be back soon." And giving a confident grin to Harry, Sora turned and dove smoothly off of the wharf. The transformation magic came as swiftly as ever, and Sora briefly flashed through his new/old form, ensuring he could turn swiftly and defend himself. Whooping in delight, Sora spun in crazy circles, then with powerful strokes of his tail, propelled himself towards the surface, letting himself erupt up out the water into the light, slapping the water and somersaulting crazily before re-entering. Bobbing up to the surface, he managed a sheepish smile at the gaping little group.

"I'd forgotten how cool that was." Hermione giggled, while Dumbledore merely smiled fondly. Hagrid lit up, watching the 'fascinatin' creature. Sora let himself slip under again- it felt more comfortable, in this form.

Twin eruptions overhead caught his attention, and he grinned as Donald and Goofy drifted down towards him, also trying out their Atlantica forms.

"You guys ready?" It always felt weird talking underwater- kind of echo-y.

Donald flashed past him in answer and Sora grinned and with a swish of his tail shot after him, Goofy bringing up the rear. Time to hopefully find some answers.

The lake was different, far different, than the sea of Atlantica. Calmer, for one. The water was more greenish here, giving everything a kind of dreamy look. Sora and his friends followed the twisting pathways of the lake, somewhat surprised by the lake's size. Boy, Sora thought, I sure hope the mer-folk here can help us out. Heartless attacked several times, but they were easily defeated. Sora glanced constantly at the watch on his wrist ticking away his time in the lake. Several odd, non-heartless creatures attacked, but Sora was able to drive them off without killing any.

And then they came across a strange, twisting underwater city. It was low built, and seemed to have been carved into the rock of the lake, instead of the soaring spires of Atlantica.

"Hello?" Donald jumped as Sora yelled out as loud as he could.

"A bit of a warning next time, Sora," he squawked.

"Sorry, Donald. I think it worked."

Indeed. As he spoke several mer-people were coming their way. Armed with spears.

--

Harry had been right. They looked nothing like Sora himself did when he was a merman. They were odd, but fascinating. With more fishy faces, and overly thin bodies with long, whipping tails, they had cold, intelligent eyes and carried their weapons confidently.

Probably to drive off those weird critters that attacked us before, Sora thought, since he doubted they had much in the way of visitors. Bits of shell were strung around their throats in elaborate twists, and they hovered easily around them. Sora was extremely grateful that the Keyblade and his magic ensured he knew whatever language he needed to know.

This would have been way harder, otherwise. How was one to use charades to convince someone not to kill you, or try to describe a Keyhole? Especially since the Keyholes were hidden.

"Hi. I'm Sora, this is Donald, and this is Goofy. We're friends of Dumbledore. We're looking for the Keyhole- or anything unusual. It's really, really important. Can you help us?"

They simply stared at him, tails undulating slowly. The whole silent stillness thing was a little creepy, to be honest.

"Hello?" One of the creatures slid forward, and it was impossible to read the expression on their face.

"Hel-lo, So-ra, Don-ald and Goo-fy. You seek hid-den things, why?" It took him a moment to decipher it's speech.

"You know the shadow creatures with the empty heart emblem on their chests? They're called heartless. They're going to keep on coming, if we can't find the Keyhole and seal it. We only want to help, I promise. We don't want anybody hurt." There was a pause, and Sora was beginning to suspect the creatures could talk telepathically.

"You know heart-less? You hunt?"

"Yes."

"Good. Fol-low Asith. You lie, you die. We take you to hid-den thing." Sora was cautiously optimistic. It couldn't be that easy.

It wasn't, really. It was all a bit odd…

Asith lead them through sharp, twisting underwater corridors, and Sora blessed his little orb of light faithfully following him. He lost track of where he was very quickly, going up, down, and sideways. He was dizzy from all the sharp turns, and was beginning to miss the open water. Then the tunnel turned it's sharpest turn yet, and Goofy, in turtle-mode, barely squeezed through. Then they were in an underground- under-lake- cavern, about half the size of Hogwarts great hall. Tiny, flickering orbs like Sora's own were sprinkled like stars around the room, and he caught his breathe at the beauty of the shifting lights.

But it was what was in the centre of the room that stole his voice.

It was incandescent.

He approached it as if in a trance, drawn by the physical brightness of the object as well as the tantalizing blaze of warmth it evoked in his heart.

Asith made no move to stop him, but instead watched his progress with flat, cold eyes. Swimming up slowly to the light, Sora was mesmerized to note that the closer he got, the brighter the light grew. By the time he got close enough to touch it, his eyes were slitted from the light.

Surely, surely this was the Keyhole, he thought.

It wasn't. But he could barely feel any disappointment, for it sang to his senses, and he knew it just had to be important. Without further hesitation, Sora let his fingers glide over the surface of the glowing thingamajig, (for he didn't know what it was) hoping for some clue of what he was meant to so. He heard, but ignored, Donald's cry for him to be careful. He wasn't at risk.

This seemed to be the right thing to do, for he felt 'it' shiver beneath his fingers, the glow changing, becoming less bright, but somehow, more intense.

It seemed to be made from pure light, but now he could see that it looked exactly like the symbol of his Keyblade, the three circles that, now that he thought about it, resembled a certain mouse king's head. It was about the size of a child's heart, and Sora cradled it in his hands, running his hands over the strange, but clearly powerful object.

Now what? Sora thought.

The Keyblade answered, and Sora gasped, nearly dropping the magical object as he freed one hand to take hold of his Keyblade, reverted back to it's Kingdom Key form. The Keyblade was tugging his hand forward eagerly, and Sora watched as the glowing orb-thingy lifted lightly from his palms, to float freely before him, flashing with seeming warmth at him.

He let the Keyblade guide him, feeling it pull his hand up, tip pointed straight at the orb, a beam of light shooting from it and hitting the magical object dead on. He felt an answering tug within his heart as he let the Keyblade manipulate the moment. Still glowing, the orb connected to the Keyblade by the beam of light, seemed to be…shrinking. As Sora stared, the glowing symbol shrunk down until it was lost within the light emitted from the Keyblade.

Was the Keyblade absorbing it? He wondered. The Kingdom Key suddenly shuddered, and the light died down. The orb remained, still floating free, but now it was the size of his thumbnail, glowing brilliantly in the water like a star in the sky. Before Sora could do or say anything, the orb took off, whipping around him with incredible speed.

He gaped, foolishly trying to follow it's movements, as it whirled, creating a spinning vortex from it's motions, trapping him within. Donald and Goofy surged forward, alarmed, but stopped helplessly.

The tiny, determined little light picked up speed, until Sora's eyes hurt as he stared at the whirling wall of water that tugged at him. Then something slammed into him and he gave the fishy equivalent of a stagger, eyes flaring wide in shock- and pain- as a white-hot spear of light impacted in between his shoulder-blades and wriggled inside. Unaware that the vortex around him was beginning to dissipate, Sora slumped in the water, eyes now closed tight.

The magical symbol was literally inside him.

--

He came back to himself to Donald's angry remonstrations, and Goofy saying his name in a worried tone of voice.

"I'm, I'm fine, guys. Just a bit of a shock…" He hadn't expected that at all. He'd picked up lots of unusual things in his travels, some very valuable and important, and none of them had ever done anything like this.

It was inside him. Inside him, and he had no idea what it was. He knew, _knew_ it was not dangerous, but still.

It could at least have asked. Which was a ridiculous thought, but Sora wasn't feeling up to logic right now.

Hold on, he thought, panicked, how long was he out? He glanced at his watch, squinting at the numbers. He had a little over half an hour to get back topside before the teachers started to worry.

Sora looked around, and saw Asith still floating with cold, uninterested calmness at the entrance to the cavern. His forehead furrowed a little.

"Um, thanks for not trying to kill us and all, but why did you, ah, let me..?" Sora drifted off fuzzily, but Asith seemed to catch his drift, for he turned deep eyes on the boy and said flatly,

"You wrong ones, guard-ian not let touch light. Guard-ian not wake. Right ones. Done now?"

They were. Sora flashed the cavern a quick glance, seeing nothing. He wondered what the 'guardian' was, but Asith seemed to want them gone, and was already moving. Sora had no desire to become lost in the maze of tunnels, and followed. He could hear Donald muttering "Right ones? What if we were the wrong ones, eh?" His lips quirked slightly.

No Keyhole, but they'd found something they needed to find.

--

Asith left them without a word at the boundary of the city, and Sora was quite happy to let him do so. These people were nothing like the folk of Atlantica, and Sora was glad to see him gone, although he was thankful for the help provided. Without Asith's help, he doubted he would have ever found the cavern.

The trio began heading back towards shore, swimming as hard as they could, stopping only to kill a few heartless, as Sora checked his watch closely.

They arrived with barely five minutes to spare, bobbing up to the surface to glad cries. Sora had to blink a few times, the transition from breathing water to air always made him a little woozy.

"Sora, are you alright? Did you find it?" Sora shaded a hand over his eyes and squinted at Harry.

"We're fine. Unfortunately, we didn't find the Keyhole, but we did find something important." How important, he had no idea. He just knew it was important.

"Excellent, child." Dumbledore was beaming, and Sora felt only a momentary twinge at the 'child'. Dumbledore began an animated discussion with Goofy and Donald- who, Sora noted with no little envy, were already back in their real forms and being helped up onto the wharf.

"Here, Sora." Harry and Ron grabbed hold of his hands and yanked Sora into the air. He caught the edge of the wharf with his palms and with their help, perched easily. His tail was dragging in the water, however, and he had to shuffle back awkwardly until it was free.

Sunlight glinted off his necklace and his tail, throwing spears of light over the water. He ran his fingers through his wet hair, a little tired from the race back. Hermione considered waving her wand over him and drying him, but remembered that their spells didn't work on him. Sora correctly read her expression, and wrinkled his nose at her, winking.

"It's alright, it only takes a minute."

"So, what did you find?" Hermione jumped in eagerly before either of her friends could say anything. Leaning back on his elbows, Sora frowned a little.

"Well, it was all a bit odd, really. Harry, you were right, those mer-folk were really weird. Kind of creepy. But I did find this weird object…"

"Really? What kind of-" Sora suddenly began to glow golden, signaling that soon he would be once more outfitted with legs. The light swirled around him- within him- and then diminished, leaving a fully clothed, _dry_, de-tailed Sora in it's wake.

Harry helped him up, and Sora flashed him a grin.

"Let's get inside before any more heartless attack, and I'll tell you all about it."

--

"I wish he'd been more talkative. I had so many questions. I wanted to know if they knew what it was, how long they'd had it, and I _really_ wanted to know about the 'guardian'."

Hermione was mesmerized.

"Fascinating. Absolutely amazing. Oh, I wish I could have come too. A whole new culture…"

Harry raised his brows, thinking of the spear-wielding mer-folk he remembered from the Second Task, and was frankly glad he'd been no-where near them.

"Trust me, Hermione, there was no time for questions."

Harry let his head slump into his palm, watching Sora.

"I wonder what it was…it's important, I know. But having something like that inside me, not knowing- makes me nervous." Ron shrugged philosophically, idly ordering a knight to E4 before saying, "Don't be. At least it's safe, right? No-one can steal it. No heartless and none of those Organization guys you mentioned." Ron nudged Harry, reminding him it was his move, and Harry sighed, wondering why he bothered. Ron always won. He was just opening his mouth to move a rook when his head split open.

In a metaphorical but still highly painful way, of course. He fell forward with a choked scream, clawing at his scar. The link had been so quiet… Suddenly he became aware of warmth, an odd, soothing light that washed through his head and took the pain with it.

He could still feel Voldemort, feel his sick, twisted joy, but he no longer shared it.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear me?" Hermione's voice had the despairing edge that said she'd asked this question many times.

"Wha, What- what was that light?" Harry choked on his own breath, and then choked again as Hermione hugged him with a glad cry, hair tickling his face.

"Uh, Mione? You might want to let him breathe," Ron cautioned. Hermione sunk back onto her heels, scrubbing tears from her eyes with one hand.

"You alright, Harry? We should get you to the hospital wing."

"I'm alright. What happened?" The two exchanged glances, while Sora paced, running his fingers through his hair agitatedly.

"This is that link you have with Voldemort, isn't it? I had no idea it was so bad."

"Oh Harry, you just fell over making these awful sounds, and your scar was bleeding and then you started _laughing_." Hermione's eyes were red-rimmed, and fussed at her robes with one hand.

"Thank goodness for Sora, he put his hand over your head and said, said-"

"Curaga," Sora interjected.

"Yes, he said that, and this gold-green light wrapped around you and you started to relax and stopped laughing." Harry scrubbed at his forehead, wincing, and his hand came away bloody. Sora was still watching them all with worried eyes.

"We should get you to the hospital wing. I don't know about magical ties, your healer may know more." Harry gave in, knowing they wouldn't let it go, but privately, he thought there was nothing they could do. Unless they could change the past or kill Voldemort for him. Besides, he'd never felt anything like that cure-spell that had actually cut across the link and taken the pain away.

What he would have done for that, last year…


	7. Confrontations

**Chapter Seven- Confrontations**

Madame Pomfrey wanted to keep Harry longer, but Harry practically fled as soon as she admitted she couldn't help him, leaving poor Sora behind as she began to question him about his healing spells. While Harry trotted dutifully off to the Headmaster's office to tell Dumbledore about his scar, Sora was handing over a cure potion to Madame Pomfrey. With this compromise, Sora too fled the scary white wing- strange, he'd never noticed his aversion to white- and wandered off to the great hall for lunch.

Enough excitement for one day, surely.

Not quite.

--

It was late evening, and Sora was enjoying the coming night, sitting alone up in the astronomy tower, glad for the moment of peace. He smiled at the scattering of stars, wondering if any of them were worlds he knew. He propped his head on his hands, and wondered for the umpteenth time where the Keyhole was. He wondered also, what scheme Voldemort had cooked up, to cause Harry such pain. He shuddered, hating the look he'd seen on Harry's face as he writhed in torment. He hated that such dark magic had been used on his friend. He'd heard about it of course, but he hadn't expected the reality.

There was a whisper of a cloak behind him. Sora shifted casually to see who had joined him, expecting it was Harry or perhaps Hermione. Maybe even Dumbledore, who had the habit of turning up in odd places from time to time.

One glance, and Sora was flinging himself to the side, rolling away desperately. He came up in a crouch, Keyblade in hand.

_A man in a black coat. An Organization member._

No attack came, and Sora stared at the person who had disturbed his peace.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?!" For once, he got an answer, though not the one he wanted.

"I'm hurt, _Sora_, that you've forgotten me so soon." And smirking, eyes glittering, Axel lowered his hood and took a step towards the Keyblade Master.

"Perhaps I've been gone too long? Oh well, I'm here now…"

Sora sucked in a breath of much needed oxygen, feeling the blood drain from his face. From all the Nobodies that could have come, it had to be this one and he had to be alone.

He raised Oathkeeper a little, drawing strength from the blade.

"Axel…" He barely registered that he'd spoken, still staring and praying this was a dream, while all his senses assured him it wasn't.

"So you do remember. I'm just a memorable kind of guy I suppose, right _Roxas_? Sorry- Sora." Sora was tempted to just lunge for the Nobody's throat, but swallowed and tried for much needed answers.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Inwardly he was thinking, what is so special about this world that it warranted your presence?

"Now, Sora, is that any way to treat an old _friend_? I just thought I'd wander by, see how you're going…Steal a few souls. Nothing big." Sora growled at the Nobody.

"You are _not_ my friend. And you're not hurting anyone here!"

"Oh? Why, are you going to play the hero and stop me?" A whisper of breeze disturbed Axel's crimson hair. The Nobody was smirking, his emerald eyes- marked by the distinctive tattoo's, amused.

"I'm not going to play anything. But I _am_ going to stop you!" Axel laughed, letting his gaze wander over his smaller opponent. Just like Roxas- the same _fire_. Although Sora was quicker to show emotion than his Nobody had been. A quirk of having a heart, he supposed.

He wouldn't know.

Sora hated the way he could feel Axel's eyes slide over him, hated the strange, conflicting surge of emotions his mere presence caused him. He lunged forward and to the left, taking a swing at the cloaked male. Axel dodged it effortlessly, laughing.

"_So_ impatient. Glad that hasn't changed…" And then the Nobody's smirk widened, his arms came up, stretching out as wisps of darkness surged down his arms and flickered in his eyes. Before the Keyblade Master's horrified stare, the darkness flared out in twin shapes, twisting and becoming solid weapons. A heartbeat later, fire exploded in the wake of the darkness, wrapping around the chakram's and whirling briefly around his own form.

"You ready? Cause ready or not…" The Nobody and the Keyblade Master moved at the same time, clashing in the centre of the small room with a steely ring, then swept apart.

--

Things went to hell very quickly.

There was no way their battle was going to be contained in the tiny tower, and very quickly Sora found himself vaulting out of the window in a desperate attempt to avoid the flaming, spinning-wheels-of-doom. He tucked as he fell, then kicked off the tower's side and flipped to stand on an adjacent one. Axel leapt up onto the windowsill, and stared across at him, still grinning.

He shook his head in amusement and leapt out, flinging a chakram low and hard. Sora leapt over it easily and met him mid-jump, sending Oathkeeper singing to meet him.

--

The first sign to the people at Hogwarts that something was wrong was Fawkes. The phoenix had woken out of a deep slumber and leapt into the air, _screaming_.

Dumbledore hadn't known Fawkes could even make that sound. The firebird swept out the window, singing fiercely, and Dumbledore hurried to the window, trying to figure out what had alarmed the phoenix so. He glanced up, following his flight…and his mouth fell open.

--

Sora ducked, feeling a wave of incredible heat surge overhead, and felt something ruffle his hair. He dug his heels in for a moment before propelling himself upwards to avoid Axel's follow-up attack. He caught the edge of another tower, and flipped himself up, twisting as he did so, landing facing the Nobody. Or he would have been, if Axel hadn't moved. He fell into a crouch, as Axel spun in from the side, and flung Oathkeeper at him in a Strike Raid. Only fair, since the Nobody loved to throw his flaming weapons at _him_. He hit him, although it seemed to do little damage, and Sora leapt as he caught his returning weapon and tried to close with the Nobody. Axel laughed mockingly and sent a wave of fire at him that had him leaping nearly eight feet in the air to avoid. He used this to his advantage, however, twisting his fall so that he came down on Axel, getting in a few swipes before he had to fling himself out of the way of another fire attack. He rolled, coming to his feet, and threw several ice spells in rapid succession.

--

The fight was fairly visible from below, even in the twilight, for though the combatants seemed at times to fade into the coming darkness, the flash of weapons and the eruption of battle-magic were painfully visible.

Dumbledore had already summoned the teachers, sending them off to round up all the students and keep them safely in their dorms. He'd guessed that the attacker Sora was battling was one of the mysterious Organization members, and acted to keep his charges safe.

There was little he could do for Sora, engaged in a lightning fast duel above the castle.

--

When the alarm went out, Harry and his friends naturally ignored it, following a frantic Donald and Goofy as they raced towards the Headmaster's office to demand answers. They all clearly felt that whatever was happening had to do with their spiky haired friend. Donald was hurling abuse at himself, clearly enraged that he'd left Sora alone. Goofy was trying to calm him, but was visibly worried himself. Harry and his friends wisely stayed out of it. They all but ran into Professor McGonagall, hurrying back from Gryffindor common-room.

"Professor! What's going on? Where's Sora?" She stared at them.

"What are you _doing_, Potter? Didn't you hear the alarms? I-" Donald interrupted her, holding his small staff so tightly it hurt.

"We're worried about our friend! If you know where he is, tell us!" The sheer fierceness of the duck mage's normally comical speech settled her on her heels, and she opened and closed her mouth several times.

"A fight of some kind. Outside. Albus suspects it's someone from that organization."

The group spun on their heels.

"Where are you going?!"

"You said there's a fight outside, right? That's where we're going." The teacher shook her head, pale.

"Not on the _grounds_, Harry, but on the castle rooftops." He gaped at her. Then as one they all bolted towards the nearest window, staring up.

Every window in the common rooms was full, people pressed up against the enchanted glass as they strained for glimpses of the aerial battle that swept back and forth above them. In Dumbledore's office, a group of teachers leant out the window, trying to track them. They were trying to think of ways that they could help, but could barely keep up, let alone try to find a vantage point from which to offer assistance. Nonetheless, Albus, Remus, and Filius began to run up to the higher levels. They couldn't follow Sora, but they could get closer so that they might be able to help. On the other side of the castle, Harry and his friends were doing much the same thing. Above, the fight continued with unrelenting ferocity. High above that, a phoenix flew singing unceasingly.

--

Sora dodged a fraction too late, and Axel's attack flung him backwards against the roof of a tower, dislodging tiles with a painful crack. He hung there for a moment due to the sheer force of the blow, then gravity resumed it's hold and he began to slip. He held Oathkeeper away from his body as he regained his footing, getting the hell out of the way as Axel roasted the area he'd been in a second before. He flung Oathkeeper at him, ignoring the pain in his back, then was forced to dodge again as a chakram nearly clipped him. Sora was really hating those weapons. With two, the Nobody could keep one as a defense and use the other as an offense. What he needed was two Keyblades…but he'd only managed it once outside of a Form. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, and didn't know how to repeat it.

His moment of reflection almost cost him as a burst of flames disturbed his footing, and he dodged again, ducking for a moment behind a battlement.

"It ain't gonna be that easy, Sora!" Axel yelled, letting his chakram's spin around him again. Sora had never thought it was going to be easy, but he'd never expected that this was how they were going to fight. He abandoned his position as Axel swooped in, booted feet landing with deceptive lightness on the battlements beside him. Sora took advantage of the flat ground for a moment, performing another Strike Raid that missed, but shot forward in a dive roll past the startled Nobody, caught the Keyblade, and attacked him from behind. An explosion of heat blasted him back, and again his back impacted roughly with something solid. Sora rolled off the battlement, leaping into the air as the firestorm Axel had created passed beneath him.

"Sora!" Sora spun, hearing his name called by a familiar, non-threatening voice. Harry and his friends stood together near an open window, staring up at him with pale faces- _and the fire attack was heading straight for them_. Sora didn't hesitate. He saw them performing magic, but knew whatever it was would never stop the wild flood of flames. Goofy had moved in front of them, shield held before him, and Sora knew that, too, wouldn't be enough. Forgetting about Axel, he hit the side of the tower, and dove straight down, desperate, and just before the fire would have impacted flew in front of his friends, spun his Keyblade in front of him and yelled "Force!"

As loudly as he could. The fire slammed against his spell, pushed against it- and Force held, barely, suppressing the angry flames. With one foot on the windowsill, and the other against the wall below it, Sora was so shocked by his successful block that he almost completely missed Axel diving through the disappearing flames, weapons ready. He had no where to go but down, and if he moved the attack would hit his friends. Sora processed this in a split second, and swept Oathkeeper up to block the first chakram, knowing he could never move the blade to stop the second…

"Sora!"

Oblivion met it's charge, deflecting it, and Sora dimly noted through his haze of relief that his friends- and himself- were fine. He tightened his grip on both Keyblades, feeling fresh confidence sweep through him. Time to even things up a little…Blocking Axel with Oathkeeper, and slamming Oblivion into Axel's stomach, the Keyblade Master kicked upwards, flipping to stand once more on the roof. Winded, Axel kicked a little clumsily off the tower wall and landed opposite him. Despite his slightly erratic breathing, he was grinning.

"That's more like it! I was wondering how long it would take you, Sora." Taking this chance to get his own breathing under control, Sora lowered his Keyblades slightly.

"Is that what this is? Some kind of test?" Sora's voice was clear and sharp, slicing through the chill evening air.

Before the Nobody could answer, another voice rang out.

"Whoever you are, stranger, you are not welcome here. I advise you to leave, now." Dumbledore's voice cut through the momentary calm.

Not welcome here? Sora fought a somewhat hysterical giggle.

Only Dumbledore. Axel seemed likewise amused. He twisted and stared down where a trio of teachers stood, leaning out of a window. They were all holding wands. Axel coughed over what might have been a laugh.

"Old man, I ain't got no business with you. Go back to your sweets and I won't have to kill you."

It's probably been a while since anyone talked to Albus Dumbledore like that. His last encounter with Tom, likely. McGonagall sucked in an outraged breath, but didn't shift from her defensive posture in front of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"You are a danger to the people in this castle, stranger, and you are most definitely a danger to young Sora."

Twitch. The concern was nice, but Sora was sick of the child comments, already. And the old wizard was wily and powerful, but no match for the flame-wielding Nobody.

"Sure, but whatcha going to do about it? Back off, I'm busy right now. Maybe I'll come kill you once I'm finished here." Before Dumbledore could reply, and before the unblinking stares of countless eyes, Axel resumed his attack.

"Why are you crazy cloaked guys always trying to kill me?" Sora managed around blows, giving ground.

"Gotta have a hobby…" Irritated, Sora realized he was never going to get a straight answer out of the Nobody.

"Fine. Why are _you_ trying to kill me?"

"Kill you?" Sora felt his stomach drop at the mocking reply- all the way to the ground, which was currently a long, long way away.

"Who said I was trying to kill you?" Sora leaped into an Arc Arcanum, then flipped backwards for room.

"You didn't need to say it! You've been trying to carve me up and roast me alive for nearly fifteen minutes now!" A lightning spell slammed into the Nobody as he went to answer, and Sora smiled, thinking, _Donald_. Another followed on the heels of the first, then another, until a veritable storm of lightning was crackling around the getting-very-very-irritated Nobody.

Finally he snapped. With a roar, Axel flung his arms out and yelled,

"Playin' hard to get, huh? Well let's see you all handle _this_!"

The resulting firestorm was like nothing they'd seen so far.

Fire erupted from Axel roaring like a wild beast. Pillars of fire swept around him, crackling and roaring so that Sora could barely hear himself think. He squinted against the fierce brightness, dodging wildly as he tried to avoid the fires.

_Thank god for magical clothing, thank god for magical clothing…_

He was kept moving by the flames, fighting to get closer to strike at the Nobody. The sheer heat felt like it was roasting him alive, and Sora was beginning to get tired. He cast an ice spell before him, which cooled him for about five seconds, then arrowed in past a flame pillar and landed on the tower Axel stood on, taking a chance and sending both Keyblades flying. Axel managed to block one, but the other shot through his defenses, slamming into his chest and knocking the Nobody off the tower. Without missing a beat, Sora ran after him, catching the Keyblades in mid-leap and running straight down the tower's wall. The screaming flames followed them.

--

The watchers gaped as Axel tumbled and Sora, impossibly, began to come after him. With a fierce cry, Sora managed to get in several hard blows before Axel summoned his chakrams again, twisting in mid-air, kicking off the wall and shooting away. Sora cursed and followed, trying to get the Nobody to stop dodging so he could strike back.

The fierce fires had abated a little, as if Axel was tiring, which Sora could only hope was true. Pin-balling off every available source, the two fighters clashed again and again as twilight faded and true night began.

--

They faced each other, ironically, on the astronomy tower, both bloodied and exhausted. It was dark now, and Sora found it hard to see anything, let alone the Nobody in the dark cloak. The flames had finally died away, and now they simply regarded each other over their weapons, as if waiting for some signal that would end things. The wind was cold and sharp, and carried bursts of drifting melody- phoenix song.

"I don't want to have to kill you, Axel," Sora's voice broke.

"I don't want to kill anybody. I really don't. But you're hurting people. I can't let you do that." Axel tilted his head, a ghost of a smirk hovering over his lips.

"You going to kill me, Roxas?" Sora felt his breathe catch for an instant. His vision blurred, then sharpened.

"You've called me that before. I'm Sora, and you've called me that too." He swallowed.

"Who's Roxas? Why do I keep hearing his name? Tell me, please. It's important." Axel was watching him very intently now. He was standing very still.

"How important, Sora? What does it mean to you?" Confusion, Sora thought. Fear. Sorrow.

"What do _I_ mean to you, Sora?" Sora gaped at the flame-haired Nobody, guard almost faltering. What did he mean by that? The Nobody's tone, his whole body-posture, frightened him.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me." Sora could hear his heart, hammering. He licked his lips, took a step back. The Nobody's eyes were strangely hungry, desperate. Shocked, Sora answered without thinking.

"I feel afraid. But not, at the same time. I'm confused because I keep thinking I know you, and I don't. I keep wanting to trust you, and that's ridiculous. I don't know why I feel like this and I know something's wrong and I just want it all to stop." Sora was almost sobbing, now.

"There's something inside of me that wants- and I wish-and I…" Sora was shaking with the intensity of what he was feeling, terrified by the chaos inside him, as if something was trying to fight it's way out. He was staring blankly into space, Keyblades hanging limply at his sides as he blinked back tears. He hadn't realized, until now, just how much the confusion inside had been because of this particular Nobody.

"Sora." Sora's head jerked up and he gasped, because at some point Axel had moved- or teleported- to stand directly in front of him. Instinctively he tried to bring the Keyblades up between them, but the Nobody was too fast, he'd abandoned his own weapons and he whipped his arm around the startled youth, pinning his arms uselessly to his sides and crushing his body against his own. His free hand flew up to tangle in wild hair, jerking Sora's head back as he stared into his eyes with painful intensity.

"Sora."

Sora could barely hear him over the panic in his own head. Wide blue eyes stared up at Axel with an odd mixture of defiance and fear. He was panting for breath- and control. The Nobody looked no better, his body firm against the wielder's but his hands shaking. His eyes were locked on Sora's, some odd emotion twisting his face.

_Nobodies don't have hearts. Does that mean they have no emotions?_

Then Axel leant down and ruthlessly crushed their mouths together, and in that hard, punishing kiss was all his wild desperation for the one he had lost- and sort of re-found. He ravished the mouth of the momentarily helpless boy in his arms, then jerked back and stared down at him for a moment, eyes burning but full of realization.

"_You_ are Roxas." Then the Nobody stepped back, never losing eye contact, and a dark portal swallowed his bloody form. He vanished.

Sora swayed, then collapsed to his knees, shivering from the cold, from the fight, and the memory of the Nobody's desperation and desire.

He could still taste him.

--

Voices kept calling. Over and over again, and the bloody boy on the tower's roof heard them but didn't register his name. He was lying on his side, curled up, Oathkeeper sort of cuddled to his chest. He was staring up at the stars, not really seeing them. It was very cold, but he didn't really notice that either.

"Sora? Sora!"

Over and over again…The boy heard the flutter of wings, and then the clatter of claws on the roof tiles. His head drifted dreamily to the side. He felt very strange, as if he wasn't all there.

"'Lo, Fawkes." The phoenix cooed, and fluttered closer, then twisted his head down to stare into the Keyblade Master's eyes. He cooed again, flaring his wings wide as if to shelter the boy. He rubbed his head against a bloody cheek, and a flicker of life returned to blank eyes, and with an effort Sora managed to free one hand from Oathkeeper to run his fingers through the phoenix's chest feathers. A single, golden tear fell from the fire-bird's eye and splashed down Sora's face. The cut on his cheek vanished. Then the phoenix leaped into the air again, calling loudly, the backlash of his wings throwing Sora's hair into wild motion.

"Fawkes? What are you doing up there?" The young voice was very close by.

"Ow! Alright, I'm coming, just stop it already." Footsteps.

"Wow, Fawkes, this place is trashed. Ow! Alright! What are you trying to show me?" There was an irritated trill, a yelp, then a gasp.

"Sora! Sora, are you alright?" And without waiting for an answer, Harry turned and began to yell,

"I've found him! I've found Sora! Over here!" Then Harry was clambering cautiously over the roof, skittering uneasily back from the edge.

"Merlin, Sora, how'd you end up here? You- you look terrible. Are you alright? Sorry, stupid question. Help's coming, you just need to stay calm."

"Come on, say something! Anything!"

"Hi." Harry blinked.

"Uh, hi. Did you hit your head? I bet you did, that was some crazy fight. I've never seen anything like it. The roof here is seriously trashed. You, and that, that guy, you were incredible- the scariest thing I have ever seen."

"I'm fine."

"Sure. You're just covered in blood and can't seem to move."

"Sora! Sorrraaaaaa!" Two very familiar voices rang out. With a little more life, Sora managed to roll himself over, moaning in protest. He'd been lying still, in the cold, for quite some time after Axel's departure. Harry, looking like he wanted to protest, helped him sit up. Sora leant on Oathkeeper, drawing strength from it. He couldn't really remember, but he'd let Oblivion fade away.

The world spun crazily, and he moaned again, feeling ill. Damn, but he hoped the Nobody was feeling this bloody pathetic. Sora blinked the world back into focus, drawing a tight breath as Donald and Goofy climbed up to meet him.

_Sora, Roxas. Roxas, Sora._

He didn't want to think of that right now. He heard his friend's intake of breath at the sight of him, and managed a half smile. He must look terrible, then.

"You've found him! Oh thank Merlin!" Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had arrived, peering cautiously up at them from the window.

"Albus, can you float Sora down here?" Before Sora could protest, he felt a fierce energy wrap around him, lifting him up. It faltered for a moment before whisking him down and depositing him in the tower. Dumbledore lowered his wand, perturbed at the amount of power a simple _wingardium leviosa_ needed to even touch the boy. Professor McGonagall was too busy panicking about Sora's condition, hesitating to even touch him lest she disturb some injury.

Now that he was thinking again, Sora was feeling much better.

"I'm fine," he snapped a little irritably. Donald fell awkwardly back in through the window, twitching.

"What are you doing, floating him around when I was just about to heal him?" The duck didn't let anybody answer before he raised his staff and cried "Curaga!"

Sora welcomed and relaxed back into the familiar gold-green light as the powerful healing spell wrapped around him. Wounds shrank, burns faded. His clothes managed a half-hearted dry-clean. Still battered and hurt, Sora was none-the-less going to need plenty of rest before another healing took away the remainder of his half-healed injuries.

"Thanks, Donald," Sora croaked, coughing. He had suddenly realized how cold it was, and shivering, he slumped back against the ground, lacking the energy or will to stand right now. Goofy, who had almost toppled straight off the tower, now moved to Sora's side, supporting him in a sitting position as Harry re-entered the room with much more grace.

"Albus, can you float him to the hospital wing?" Minerva felt her eyes being pulled back to the battered figure of the young Keyblade Master, heart twisting at the evidence of his injuries.

The wizard shook his head mournfully.

"Sora is highly resistant to our magic. I only managed to bring him down here by expending a large amount of energy- and because he himself is so exhausted."

Harry meanwhile was glancing around uneasily.

"What about that guy? Is he…Sora, did you- kill him?" His voice dropped at the end, but Sora still heard him clearly. The teachers stopped their discussion and listened intently.

"No. But I hurt him about as much as he hurt me. It'll be awhile before he heals up to return." Thank god. Sora just hoped he was suffering as much as he himself was. Sleep was looking very attractive now.

"Um, sorry about the mess. But I didn't exactly get to choose the battleground, so, uh, yeah." Yeah, asking Axel if he would mind moving the fight to avoid damage would _so_ not have worked. And as uneven and dangerous as the 'ground' had been, it had also provided lots of opportunities- for one, allowing Sora to indulge in his favorite style of combat. In the air, for as long as possible.

"Ridiculous child. We can repair everything up as good as new. All that matters is that you are safe. Now, do you think you can walk? We should get you down to the hospital wing so you can rest." Sora didn't want to move. At all. But he'd forced himself to move before- in battles where he'd been so exhausted he could hardly breathe. He had the added kick of a strong healing under him now. He could make it.

"Of course I can. Just point the way." And possibly supply mattresses at the foot of any long flights of stairs. Using Oathkeeper once more as a crutch, the Keyblade Master got his feet under him, wincing as his battered body complained at full voice. Goofy and Harry were on either side of him, supporting him, and together the little group began to descend the stairs- far, far too many stairs.


	8. Revelations

**Chapter Eight- Revelations**

Sora was slumbering now, still and calm in the hospital wing. Bands of moonlight lay across his face, bleaching the color from his bruises and making his otherwise porcelain skin glow. Harry, having snuck back down to the infirmary under his invisibility cloak, watched him breathe. Donald and Goofy, who had refused to be parted from him, slumbered in decidedly odd sleeping positions on an adjacent bed. Remembering that out of the Room of Requirement the heartless could find the vulnerable boy on the bed, Harry looked around uneasily, eyes flickering to the shadows.

Nothing stirred. The night was like any other number of nights, quite and peaceful. Returning his gaze to the sleeping boy, Harry felt his heart clench. He'd only known Sora for a few weeks, but it felt like forever, and seeing him lie so still, so hurt, made him both angry and overwhelmingly sad. He remembered Sora healing him, remembered the incredible warmth of his spell slipping through him and chasing Voldemort's touch away. Anyone who knew Sora knew he was something special, there was a kind of innocence, a kind of brightness to him. But Merlin, hadn't he been incredible before? Harry had thought he'd seen everything when Sora had fought the heartless in the great hall, but that had been nothing to the battle that had played out earlier. Sora had been up against a whole different kind of enemy, one that was ruthless and incredibly skilled. The flashes of the battle that they'd caught had seemed like something out of a nightmare.

And how utterly useless they'd all been. Even Donald and Goofy had been unable to join the fight, lacking the physical skill required to traverse the dangerous battlefield. Harry hadn't even known people could jump that far, or move that fast. Sora had been incredible, and the powers that the red-headed male had used had raised the hair on the back of his neck. Surely he couldn't have been human, surely. Harry sighed softly, scrubbing his hand over his burning eyes and wishing he could find the peace to sleep. But he felt better sitting here, watching the rise and fall of Sora's chest, reminding himself that he was alive. He shifted closer. In the moonlight, Sora was like a pale wraith, calm and beautiful and not quite there, and Harry wondered for a moment if he closed his eyes would Sora vanish?

Hesitantly, Harry stretched out his hand and let his fingers lightly touch Sora's hair, surprised by how soft it was. The boy didn't stir, practically comatose from the healing magic Donald had forced down his throat. Come morning, apparently, he would be completely healed. Harry could hardly believe it, but his sense of the impossible had been turned on it's head when Sora had showed up.

Harry pulled his hand back. He was being ridiculous. Sora would be fine. He should head back to his bed now, and sleep.

Instead, Harry remained, staring at the rise and fall of his friend's chest, remembering another friend, a friend who had died and not come back.

--

Sora was still a little bruised, but he roused the next day around lunchtime otherwise fine. Astounded, Madame Pomfrey kept him for a full fifteen minutes running scans, and running her fingers over his chest where a very nasty gash had healed into a barely visible scar. She was in a stupefied awe over the healing magic that had been used. Sora, having heard from Harry about the time the medi-witch had re-grown the bones in his arm, was understandably a little confused. Maybe she would have felt better if Sora had healed with big, ugly scars or something. (She would have, actually, for that she could have understood) Under the watchful eyes of Donald, Goofy, Madame Pomfrey and a strangely exhausted Harry, Sora stretched and stood by his bed, flashing a trade mark grin.

"Man, do I feel better now. I'll admit I wasn't feeling too good last night. Axel's pretty handy with those chakrams, let me tell you."

"Axel?" Harry asked tentatively. Sora perched on the edge of the bed for a moment, mouth tight.

"Yeah, his name's Axel. Met him once in Twilight Town. But I have this weird feeling I've met him before that, and I can't remember. All of the Organization Nobodies have strange powers- Axel, you may have noticed, can wield fire." Sora slipped off the bed again, edging past Donald, who was inspecting him closely and fingering his staff in such a way as to suggest that he was considering casting another Curaga. Sora wrinkled his nose. Other than a few- uh, _attractively_ shaded bruises, Sora felt he was just fine.

"No, Donald. Do not heal me again. I'm fine, thanks. Besides, I have a feeling Professor Dumbledore's going to want to know about last night." Sora sighed. Not a conversation he was looking forward to, although all he really had to offer was,

"Axel showed up, we fought, no-one won, he left." There was no way Sora was going to tell the twinkling eyed old wizard about Axel kissing him. Not when he was still trying to understand it himself. And as for Roxas…

_You are Roxas._

The hell he was! He was Sora, always had been, and always would be. But he would admit that there was something going on, something strange and painful inside, like some memory he had forgotten struggling to be remembered. Maybe, just maybe, these wizards would be able to help with that?

Madame Pomfrey was nodding.

"Yes, the Headmaster requested your presence as soon as you were healed. Now don't fret, he just wants to know if there's anything you can tell him to help protect the school from these Organization people." Yeah, Sora thought, get rid of me. I'm like a trouble magnet.

"Here, Sora, I'll show you the way." Sora smiled at Harry, even though he was pretty sure he knew the way now, he wouldn't mind the green-eyed wizard's company.

"Thanks, Harry." His smile dimmed and grew concerned for a moment.

"Harry? Are you alright? You look exhausted. Is it about your scar?" Harry started, flitting a glance at Sora, more specifically at the livid bruise on his cheek, then looked away again.

"No, Sora, I'm fine. Just found it hard to sleep last night, that's all." Sora linked his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, that's understandable. It was a pretty rough night." And without saying anything more, they continued on their way to see Dumbledore.

--

Dumbledore was at his 'serene, harmless' best, sitting behind his desk, twinkling away as he sucked on a lemon drop. Sora and Harry both twitched very slightly.

"My, Sora, what an active night you've had." Active? True, but Sora could think of a lot of words that fit better.

"Yessir."

"Would you mind telling me what happened?" Just a little.

"It's pretty straightforward, Professor. I was up in the Astronomy tower when I heard the sound of a cloak. I thought it was one of you guys and I turned to look, and saw Axel. Well, an Organization member, but it didn't take me long to know who it was."  
"Why didn't you call for help?" Sora blinked. Harry shot Dumbledore a quizzical look. Dumbledore was a great man, but he was caught continuously between eternal optimism and blind stupidity. Harry was all too aware of how utterly useless they'd all been last night when Sora had been fighting the intruder.

"Call for…Professor, I really didn't have time. He said something about seeing how I was doing, maybe stealing some souls, and then we were fighting. Nobody really won- Axel vanished into a dark portal."

"You don't know how he got inside the castle?"

"He probably teleported in, like how he left." Dumbledore was frowning now, thinking of all the wards on the castle that the man must have passed.

"So, this man-" Sora interrupted him.

"Nobody."

"Excuse me?"

"He's a Nobody. All the Organization members are. They don't have hearts."

"I see, I recall you saying something to that effect."

"So this Nobody was here for you?" Sora looked away.

"I have no doubt he would also have created some havoc here- but yes." Sora sunk low in his chair, accepting an armful of phoenix miserably. Here it comes, he thought. It's too dangerous for me to be here, he knows that. But I haven't found the Keyhole yet, and I can't go home until I do.

"I see. Well thank you Sora, unless you have anything to add, I won't keep you." Sora gaped.

"No sir, I mean yes sir." Sora was very relieved, while Harry was mostly confused.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, sir, do you know anything about erasing memories? I mean, un-erasing them? I have a feeling- that is, I think I might have lost some, you see."

"Whaaat?" Donald had been quiet up until then, but now he exploded out of his chair with an indignant cry.

"Lost memories? But Sora, we've been with you all the time! We woulda known if you just forgot something." Sora turned to the little mage, pale but resolute.

"Not it you'd forgotten too, Donald. You as well, Goofy. Have you noticed anything wrong or confusing in your memory? I've discovered I'm afraid of the hospital wing, because it's white. I've never been afraid of a _color_ before. And I _know_ I've met Axel before, and I don't just mean Twilight Town!" Sora took a deep breath, then relaxed back into his chair, stroking Fawkes's chest. Goofy was scratching his head, looking confused.

"Gosh, Sora, I don't know. But it's odd, I don't think I like white anymore either." Donald's feathers were fluffed out, making the stout little mage look like an irritated feather duster. His fingers were locked tight around his staff. He looked liable to explode any minute now, but he was also frowning. Sora turned back to Dumbledore.

"Professor?" He pleaded.

Dumbledore looked very grave.

"I know very little about your kind of magic, Sora," he cautioned.

"But among wizards there are several ways of incurring memory loss. The Obliviate charm is one, whereby the caster alters what a person remembers, as well as several potions known to induce memory loss, or to cover true memories with false ones. However, Sora, I doubt any of these would have any great effect on you. But mages proficient in your style of magic might have similar spells." Sora slumped.

"However, Sora, I have a suggestion. I have in my possession an empty penseive. It's a magical item in which a wizard can store and view memories. It's very simple to use, and you might discover what's wrong in your memory if you use it." Dumbledore got up, walking around his desk and over to one of his many shelves, rummaging for a few moments.

"Aha! Here we go, Sora. Now, all you need to do is concentrate on the memory you wish to look at, then pull it into the penseive. Then you can look inside the memory and discover anything unusual- gaps or repetitions, perhaps." He offered Sora the large stone bowl inscribed with strange markings, strangely shimmering. Sora took it gratefully and with no little trepidation, shifting Fawkes to one knee. Donald waddled over immediately, taking the heavy object and examining it from all sides.

"Thanks Professor." Dumbledore smiled, but his eyes were still grave.

"The very least I could do, Sora. Now, why don't you run along while I have a brief chat with young Harry here?" Sora and Harry swapped glances, Harry still wide-eyed over the conversation he'd just heard.

"Sure. See you later, Harry." Sora and his friends left, Fawkes settled once more upon Sora's shoulder. Dumbledore waited until the door closed behind them before turning to Harry.

"Now Harry, I had another question about the incident with your scar the other day…"

Something was definitely up, there. And Dumbledore knew something he wasn't saying.

--

Few people saw Sora in the halls, which was good, because their reactions were more than he could take. The shocked, awed stares, the back-tracking, the hushed silence and whispers putting him on edge. He clutched the penseive to his chest and hurried back to the Room of Requirement, Donald and Goofy on his heels. He was almost there when-

"Psst!" Spinning, arms full with a magical object, Sora stared suspiciously at the wall that appeared to be hailing him. Donald blinked.

Suddenly a tapestry moved aside, and Sora found himself face to face with two identical grinning red-headed boys.

The Weasley twins. Ron had told him about his brothers, but Sora hadn't really met them until now.

"Uh, what do you want? …And what are you doing hiding behind there?" The twins grinned.

"Well, young Sora,"

"We were just passing by-"

"in one of the out-of-way passages,"

"When we caught sight of you and your-"

"-breathless fans. So we thought, since you're a friend of Harry's,"

"-that we'd give you a hand!"

Sora found himself staring at each twin in turn, awed over the rapid-fire conversation they'd just shared. They were grinning slyly, full of mischievous good will, and Sora smiled despite himself. According to Ron, the twins knew more secret passageways than even Filch.

"Nice to meet you- Fred and George, isn't it? I'm Sora, this is Donald, and that's Goofy. And how are you planning on helping?" The twins grinned again, beckoning the odd trio behind the tapestry.

"Well, it's simple really. We haven't got the map anymore, but that doesn't mean that we haven't got a load of awesome merchandise to help out the stranded student!" George- or possibly Fred- gave Sora a more somber look.

"Plus, seeing as you seem to attract as many life-threatening situations as Harry, we figured we could help you at least get around the common gawker here at Hogwarts. Follow us." Intrigued, Sora followed the twins down the passageway, and then down a hall into a little room hidden by a picture with three sirens, which Fred and George flattered outrageously. Giggling, the trio of beauties blew them kisses and swung open. They all went in, and Sora marveled at the large room full of cauldron's full of strange liquids, the tables overflowing with pages of hand-written notes and strange and everyday objects. One of the twins- Sora had given up trying to tell who was who, strode over to one of the benches and began to grab items off it, stuffing them into a small bag that, despite what was put in it, never got any larger. Sora figured they acted like his own pockets, they never grew larger and always gave him what he was after when he put his hand in them.

The twin trotted back to join them, clutching the bag. They huddled over it, shooting each other looks.

"In this little, simple bag," one began with the air of a used car salesman, if only he knew,

"This unprepossessing bag, lies some of our more exclusive and interesting merchandise, exclusive from yours truly." The other twin joined in, gesturing grandly.

"Trap jinxes, Confusion hexes, disguise jewelry- we got it all here. Word around Hogwarts is you don't need any help with duel magic," (and now he sounded like a gang-leader) so we've got everything in here to help you survive Hogwarts, fangirls, Death eaters, and dark lord wanabe's in training." Sora blinked bemusedly.

"Behold!" George cried dramatically, and with a showman's gesture whipped a silver bracelet with a shiny sapphire stone from the bag. Sora blinked again, while Donald seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

"This simple seeming bracelet- attractively fitted with a power stone in your choice of color as long as it's blue, when activated with the right word, will instantly change your appearance for a maximum of twenty-four hours. Choose from up to four different forms, male and female, to fool any enemies." Fred grabbed the bracelet from his brother and tossed it to Sora, who put the penseive down to look it over. It resized the instant he put it on his wrist.

"The activation word is Metamorph," the twin winked, "you can choose between the four disguise forms by adding numbers after the word- 1, 2, 3, 4. Metamorph 1 is one of our best- you change into a female version of yourself. Metamorph 2, 3, 4 change your hair, eyes, and your clothes. Metamorph 'off' turns it, well, off." George interrupted before Sora could say anything, whipping out something else from the bag.

"This is an alteration of an earlier prototype," the twin said fondly.

"We've recently outfitted Harry with one of these babies. It's a listening device, activated by touch. One touch of the stone magnifies your hearing by five, two taps magnifies it by ten. Deactivation is done by tapping the stud in the back." George tossed the simple blue stud earring in Sora's direction. His fine tuned reflexes caught it before it whizzed past his head. The tiny power stone in the earring was the same shade as the stone in the bracelet. Now that he thought about it, he'd noticed Harry had an earring, but his thick, dark hair had mostly hidden it from view.

"Uh, awesome, but my ears aren't pierced…" Sora, irrationally, had a flashback to his mother, swelling in indignation at his foolhardy request. The same reaction had appeared when he'd asked if he could get a tattoo.

"No problem, just hold still for a sec." Sora's eyes flared wide, but George had already grabbed the stud back and was holding it up to his ear.

"Hmm. Doesn't seem to want to go through…is it true that you have a resistance to magic?"

"Yes, does that mean that none of this will work?"

"Nah, this magic only amplifies or changes how people see you. It doesn't actually change you." Ouch! Sora clamped his hand to his ear, where George had finally managed to puncture his earlobe.

"There ya go! You'll be overhearing important discussions in no time."

"You mean eavesdropping?" Sora said wryly.

"Details, details," Fred said airily.

"Oh, and this ring completes the jewelry set- it's got a fairly strong compulsion spell on it. When you activate it- just say 'Compel' and it'll grab people's attention. When they're focused on the stone, they'll be suggestible. Not to any big things, but enough to answer simple yes/no questions, or to distract someone long enough to run. Turn it off by saying finite." Smiling with satisfaction, George slipped the ring onto Sora's finger, twisting it so that the winking blue stone was on top. Like the bracelet, the ring resized when it touched him.

"What's with all the blue?"

"We like blue."

"Ah."

"Also in the bag are a lot of our trap hexes- portable swamp, gravity reverse field-only for five feet, mind- and a Doppelganger charm- that'll create an illusionary copy of you for people to chase while you get away. Careful though, you can't touch it or it'll fade."

The twins shoved the bag into Sora's hands, grinning with satisfaction.

Donald regained his tongue before Sora.

"Waddaya mean giving Sora alla this stuff? How do we know this isn't some kind of trick?" The duck tapped one webbed foot and crossed his wings, giving the twins an assessing glare. Sora finally managed to close his mouth, and pulled the little mage back gently.

"Now, Donald, they're friends of Harry, so they must be alright." Then to the twins he said,

"Thanks, you two. If this stuff does what you say it will, it will be real handy. I can't pay for it, though, not with any money you'd recognize. Is there any thing else I can offer?"

The twins paused thoughtfully.

"Now, this is all from the goodness of our hearts, Sora, because you're a friend and seem like a real nice guy who has a real tough job. Don't doubt that." The other twin picked up the conversation.

"But you guys are really from another world, right? We'd love to experiment with stuff from there- bet it'd have interesting reactions with some of our stuff. If you could spare anything…?" Puppy dog eyes appeared. Sora couldn't help it; he laughed. They were two of the most amusing people he'd ever met.

Donald was far less amused.

"We can't go out giving out stuff from other worlds! It's against the rules! We-" Sora shook his head.

"I'm not saying we give them a key-chain or anything. Just maybe some of the stuff we don't use anymore. Come on Donald, it'll be okay." The duck mage muttered darkly to himself, but gave in.

"Alright, but don't bring me into it when the King hears about this!" The twins pushed forward eagerly, only momentarily distracted by the mention of a king.

"Sweet!"

--

Absorbed as he was, it was hours later that Sora finally picked up the Penseive. He spent hours turning it over and over in his hands, desperate to begin but terrified of what he might find. Finally, he shoved it under his pillow, and trotted off to the kitchens, where he could eat in peace.

He'd try it later, when he wasn't so tired.

--

Days began to pass, and the heartless attacks picked up a little. Despite the misgivings and outrage of his teachers, Sora abandoned all classes and began to search for the Keyhole in earnest. Students and teachers no longer rushed to the doors of their classrooms when they heard the sounds of furious battles, having learnt that the three off-worlders could take care of themselves. And still the Keyhole remained stubbornly hidden, until Sora just wanted to scream in frustration.

"Calm down, Sora," Ron said lazily from where he lay sprawled in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room. He was eyeing a chess board from his position but made no move to get it. Harry was nibbling on a quill as he muttered over a piece of parchment.

Sora gave Ron an incredulous look, which Hermione mirrored from her spot on the couches.

"Calm down?! When god knows how many worlds are being over-run with Heartless? When my friends are in trouble and fighting even now? When the damn Organization are off doing god-knows-what but I know damn well it's not good? How can I calm down when I'm stuck _here_- completely useless!" Sora had a lot more to say, his nerves strained from weeks stuck in this odd world while people he cared about were in danger.

Ron flinched back, face white, and Sora felt a twinge of regret, swallowing his fury. He took a deep breathe, lowering his voice- a useless activity since he'd already caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Sorry, Ron, but I just have this terrible feeling that something horrible is happening. We've sealed Kingdom Hearts, but there's so much left to do! And these Organization guys are doing something really dangerous, I know it." Sora slumped back into his armchair, while Donald and Goofy gave him compassionate looks. They were not the Keyblade Master, but both had friends on the line, too.

"I've got to find the Keyhole, really soon." Harry was watching him from the floor, the quill, forgotten, raised halfway to his lips.

"Sora," he began hesitantly, "have you tried looking in your penseive? Maybe there's something in there?" Hermione gasped.

"YOU have a penseive? What for? They're supposed to be really, really expensive!" Harry shushed the enthusiastic witch, not looking away from Sora.

Sora blinked. He frowned, and then realized with shame that he'd been putting it off. He berated himself furiously. Just because he was afraid didn't give him the right to risk other people's lives because of it! People were depending on him!

"Tonight, Harry," he promised. Harry nodded somberly. Ron was squirming a little, before he suddenly blurted,

"Sorry, Sora. I just keep forgetting- I can't really imagine what's happening outside of here, you know?" Sora sighed, but managed a smile at the redhead.

"It's okay Ron. I find it hard sometimes too." Harry rose to his feet with a groan, adjusting his glasses.

"Gah! Floor bad. Come on guys, I don't know about you, but all this work has me starving." He twisted to stare at Sora.

"You too, Sora. You can't avoid other people forever, you know." And ignoring the unhappy teen's mutter of "watch me," he drug him out of the room.

--

It would be nice to say that Sora, Harry, and co had a marvelous night of food and friendship without anything untoward happening. Alas. But the events that occurred that night were remembered in Hogwarts for many, many years.


	9. A Higher Law

**Chapter Nine- A Higher Law**

Draco Malfoy was a prat.

It was a fact well known around Hogwarts. He was also the son of another prat, a prat that happened to work for a certain deranged Dark Lord. As well as being a prat that had most of the Ministry of Magic in his pocket.

Draco Malfoy had not forgotten the indignity of the events of that fascinating Care of Magical Creatures class. He had conveniently skimmed over the fact that Sora had saved his life, harping instead about his expensive robes being destroyed, his humiliation, and whining extensively about nearly being drowned in the Hogwarts Lake.

It was easy to ignore him, especially with Sora saving people's lives from the heartless, and especially after his terrifying duel with that mysterious opponent. Even the other Slytherin's respected him. But Draco found a willing ear in his father, who interested in this 'otherworld brat', took it upon himself to 'avenge' his son. And see for the Dark Lord if he was worth taking an interest in.

Sadly, nothing he could do would make Draco less of a prat, so the 'avenging' thing was out.

So Lucius Malfoy dropped comments around several useful contacts, mentioning the odd boy at Hogwarts that Dumbledore had taken under his wing, and the mysterious dark creatures that besieged the castle. And the dark creatures had begun to spread…

The Ministry, having brushed off the boy from another world as a ridiculous rumor started by bored students, suddenly began to pay attention as a highly respected pureblood began whispering poison in their ears. And Fudge, always ready to try to undermine Albus Dumbledore, eventually resolved to get to the bottom of the issue, deciding a visit to Hogwarts was in order.

The division from the Ministry arrived at Hogwarts the evening that Harry finally managed to physically drag the young Keyblade Master into the Great Hall. Sora managed to eat his way through his meal without looking up from his plate, and was just starting on an admittedly delicious apple pie when the massive doors to the Great Hall flew open with an extraordinary crash.

--

Fudge swept in imperiously, a small army of expressionless aurors following him. His expression was one of superiority and barely hidden glee, and he gave Dumbledore no more that a slight inclination of his head before turning to face the student body, who were gaping at him, many with forks frozen halfway to their mouths.

"Now then! It has come to my attention, as the Minister of Magic, that the school of Hogwarts is harboring a fugitive. I have come to take him into custody for questioning due to suspicion of being a supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If the child in question would step forward?"

Fudge was too puffed up with managerial importance to really have looked over the students, because even he would have noticed the duck/dog combination staring at him from the Gryffindor table.

"Cornelius!" Dumbledore managed to make his voice _thunder_, as if a storm was growing inside.

"I must protest! The student in question is no more dark than I am! If you must question him, you many do so here, in my office. There is no reason to drag a mere child before the aurors for something you merely suspect!" Fudge sneered a little.

"Trying to shield the brat, Dumbledore? If he has nothing to hide then there's no reason for you to interfere. My information came from a reliable source; Lucius Malfoy himself brought the boy to my attention- after he apparently almost drowned his son!"

Draco looked like all his dreams had suddenly come true. Subsequently, the others in the hall began to adopt murderous expressions. (Fudge had just disturbed the Sora fan-club)

Before Sora could even begin to feel anything other than shock, Harry leaped to his feet, absolutely enraged.

"You bloody bastard!" It wasn't clear whether he was addressing Draco, Fudge, or maybe both.

"He bloody saved Malfoy's _life_, and the lives of pretty much _everyone_ here at Hogwarts, and _this_ is how you treat him?" Harry would have continued, for everyone's mouths had simultaneously dropped at hearing the Boy-Who-Lived cursing the Minister, but Sora silenced him with a gentle touch on the shoulder.

"Enough!" Sora and Dumbledore yelled out simultaneously, then shot each other startled looks. Donald and Goofy had nervously gotten to their feet, and were fingering weapons, shooting the intruders uncertain looks.

Sora hadn't met any of the people that were here to 'question' him, but he had heard from Harry about how corrupt and petty the Ministry was.

He wasn't here to join some crazy Dark Lord, and he refused to be detained by these people for saving another's life or just for being himself. He bore the Keyblade, and that was the only law he followed. He pushed away from the table, ignoring Harry who hissed his name, and began to walk calmly towards the 'Minister,' his footsteps loud in the silence.

"Minister Fudge. My name is Sora. My companions are Donald, Royal Wizard, and Goofy, Royal Knight. I mean no harm to anyone of this world." His voice was clear and strong. Clearly unprepared for such a move, Fudge blinked, staring at the two 'animals' who walked beside the boy. Sora took advantage of the man's hesitation, and continued.

"I will not even be here for much longer. Once I have located the Keyhole, I may never venture by this world again. But until I seal it, this world is at risk of destruction. And I am the only one besides King Mickey who can seal it." Fudge re-found his voice.

"So it's true! You really do claim to come from another world! And babbling some nonsense about a Keyhole will not save you! You're obviously a danger to us!"

"Why?" Sora wanted to know, tightening his hands into fists, unconsciously shifting into something resembling a fighting stance.

"Because I saved an ungrateful boy's life? Because I'm fighting against an invasion here I'm uniquely suited for? For trying to save your world? Tell me, _Minister_, _how_ _I am a danger to you!"_

Donald and Goofy had never heard such venom in Sora's voice before. Fudge fumbled, white- faced, losing ground before the hard blue stare of the odd boy, and the wave of sheer anger- and sadness- that enveloped him. The whole hall was rapt.

"You're, you've got to come with me- and, and answer-" Sora overrode Fudge, curling his lip in contempt for the weak, greedy man who stood before him.

"Answer what? _For_ what? I do not answer to _you_, Minister. I do not interfere in how you run your world- and you do not interfere with me." Fudge squeezed his wand angrily.

"How dare you think yourself above the law? You are-" Again, Sora overrode him.

"Above the law, Minister? Hardly. I just answer to a higher law than you." And Sora flung out one hand and summoned Oathkeeper, holding it flat out in front of him. The Minister staggered backwards as the glittering weapon appeared in Sora's hand, humming with power. The aurors snapped to attention, processing this threat. Sora followed their movements from the corner of his eye, unworried.

"Do you know what this is, Minister? It's called the Keyblade, and no other power in the worlds can match it. In the hands of it's chosen wielder, it can bring wonder or ruin. It is what brought me here- and what will take me away. It is the weapon that has doomed me to fight against the heartless, and yet enabled me to protect those I care about. It will probably mean my death, one of these days." Sora let his eyes caress his weapon, mouth twisting oddly. He shifted his gaze back to the Minister, his eyes bright and hard.

"I cannot allow myself to be detained by such as you for so petty a reason. If I don't stop the Organization, the universe may very well fall to darkness. And trust me, Minister, you know nothing of true darkness."

"You're mad!" Fudge protested, but he had backed away from Sora and his eyes were wild.

"Maybe. But I'm still right. I suggest you leave now, Minister, and avoid advice from death-eaters." But Fudge could not bear being beaten by a mere child, and ordered his aurors to 'neutralize the threat'. Sora shook his head, mournfully.

"Idiot."

All in all, it took Sora less than a minute to 'neutralize the threat'. He was careful to pull his blows, Donald softened his spells, and Goofy was positively gentle when he knocked them out.

Fudge was left gaping foolishly, surrounded by the unconscious aurors- the best of the best beaten by a fifteen year old boy and his strange companions.

Sora gave Dumbledore and the rest of the speechless teachers a little bow and departed the hall to a ringing silence. As soon as the doors clicked behind him and his friends, the room burst into utter chaos.

--

With Hogwarts still up in arms about the confrontation between Sora and Fudge, Sora fled to the quiet peacefulness of his room, wiping out the heartless foolish enough to get between him and his sanctuary. He paced hurriedly before the Room of Requirement, and gaining entrance, flung himself onto his bed.

"Aarggghhhh!" He screamed into his pillow, absolutely sick of this world already. Donald and Goofy settled themselves on either side of his bed, watching him cautiously.

"Sora? You…alright?" Sora swallowed any number of creative responses, and bounding to his feet, summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and began to force himself through a long, exhaustive training session.

He made a decision- as soon as he was calm, he was going into his penseive. It was time he found out what was wrong so he could get out of here.

--

"Right- Donald, Goofy? I'm gonna need you guys to keep an eye on me. Make sure I'm not interrupted, and if anything seems to go wrong, pull me out, okay?" The two exchanged glances, obviously not trusting this strange magic with their friend. However, they'd lost the argument, and merely nodded unhappily.

Sora ran his fingers around the magical object sitting before him, and took a deep breath.

_You are Roxas_.

He then plunged himself into the shifting silver sea of his memories. Donald and Goofy stood nervous guard over him.

--

_Sora fell through the air, gasping in shock as he fell through heavy mist. He twisted as he fell, and saw coming up towards him a flash of green. He impacted heavily with the ground, but for some reason was unhurt. He sat up, dazed, trying to work out where he'd fallen._

_Where in his memories he'd fallen._

_He twisted, glancing around, and to his shock, saw himself, leaning back on his arms in the middle of rolling green plains. Donald and Goofy slumbered beside him, and not far away a beaten dirt path ran into a crossroads. He stared at his other self, his 'past' self, he realized, as he got to his feet and walked a little way to where the road split in different directions._

"_Ahead lies something you need, but to claim it you need to lose something dear."_

_Sora stared at the Organization member, cold. He didn't remember this at all._

_Flash._

_Sora found himself standing amongst palm trees, feeling a memory-sea wash against his feet. The island was quiet and peaceful. Kairi giggled over something Riku said, and Sora dashed over, refusing to waste such a beautiful day…_

_Flash._

"_Haven't you figured it out yet, Sora? This is Castle Oblivion. Every level you reach means more lost memories."_

_Flash._

_White walls. Endless halls. Sad-eyed girl clutching a sketchbook to her heart._

_Her un-beating heart…_

_Sora gasped as his memories flashed by almost too fast to process, trying to regain control. Perhaps he shouldn't have dumped so many in. But then, that was the point, using the penseive to track what he couldn't._

_Flash._

"_Roxas! Hurry up Roxas! We wanna go to the beach!" He knew these people._

_Flash._

"_Nobody would miss me."_

"_That's not true. I would."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_He looks just like you."_

_Sora completely lost his grip, and was flung wildly through memory after memory- some he remembered, some he did not. White mists gathered thickly, as if trying to shield him from them, but he fought his way through as best as he could._

_--_

Donald and Goofy lunged forward as Sora began to struggle. They tried to pull him out, but Sora didn't budge.

Then he began to scream, a long, muffled cry that came to them echoing, as if from very far away…

--

Harry, Ron and Hermione were just knocking on the door of the Room, when they heard a muffled scream. Exchanging horrified glances, they began to bang on the door, calling out loudly.

Goofy sprang over to the door, ripping it open, and three people fell over at his feet. Donald was still shaking Sora, trying to pull him from the penseive, but nothing seemed to be working. Harry regained his feet and dashed into the room, heart hammering wildly as Sora's muffled cries rang around his ears.

"What's wrong!"

"We can't get him out!"

The Golden Trio rushed to help their friends. Sora was making heart-breakingly distressed sounds, writhing under whatever mental torment he was enduring. Physical force seemed to do nothing, so cursing, Donald backed up to try a spell.

Then Sora fell silent.

More worried by the sudden silence, Harry reaching out with one shaking hand, whispering,

"Sora?" Then Sora raised his tear-stained face from the penseive like a drowning man, tossing his head, straining for a desperate gasp for air. For a long minute he stared blankly ahead, not heeding the frightened calls around him.

He began to laugh, and laughing toppled off the side of the bed and lay curled up on the floor. Slowly his laughter dissolved into sobs, as the broken boy muttered,

"Every reflection has a face, huh?"

--

It took a good half an hour for Sora to calm down enough for them to hesitantly broach the question of what the hell had just happened. Goofy fussed with a pot of tea he'd summoned from Dobby the house elf, meticulously pouring out cups for everyone and watching Sora drink his with a steely eye.

"Sora? Did you…find what you were looking for?" Harry finally bit the bullet.

Sora adopted a slightly deranged expression out of place on his normally cheery face.

"Oh, you could say that."

"Um- do you want to tell us?" Sora appeared to think about this for a moment.

"Some of it, I think I can," he said at last,

"But everything's still pretty confusing- a lot of my memories were under a shroud- like they were competing. Donald, you and Goofy will have the same thing."

"What? But, that's impossible, isn't it?" Sora narrowed his eyes.

"Donald, does Castle Oblivion mean anything to you?" The mage shook his head slowly, but an odd apprehension gripped him for a moment, and Sora noticed.

"Goofy?"

"Nope," the loyal knight said.

"What's Castle Oblivion?" Sora smiled the grim smile he'd been wearing too often lately.

"From what my memories could tell me- and damn, they're messed up- it was a castle we were lured to after we sealed Kingdom Hearts. A group of rebelling Organization members were there, and they were trying to gain control over me- and thus the Keyblade." Hermione was following his words closely, and now her eyes widened.

"Oh no…I think I see. By erasing or changing your memories, they were going to reshape you into something they could control." The young witch looked ill.

"Exactly. There was- there was this girl, and somehow she was doing it, but she didn't want to, and I think she ended up helping us."

"But Sora, how do we know this really happened- and it isn't just that penseive," Donald begged a little plaintively. Sora leant his chin onto his hand, thinking. At last he said,

"Donald, Goofy, you remember when we woke up in Twilight Town, and Jiminy's book was empty except for the note at the end?"

"Thank Namine," the mage muttered.

"Yeah, and remember when Leon and everyone told us they all forgot about us for a while- then remembered all at once?"

His companions nodded slowly, while Ron and Harry turned their heads to follow the conversation, completely lost.

"Yeah. I'm not sure, but because Namine was rewriting my memories- and thus everyone's who knew me- when she undid it, I couldn't have the memory of what had occurred, _and_ everything else. We chose having our true memories back, at the price of the time in Castle Oblivion." Donald's feathery brow was wrinkled as he followed this.

"But if that's true, Sora, why do you remember now?" Sora laughed bitterly.

"I don't, not really. Just lots of flashes- fights, dreams. Namine was the clearest, for whatever reason. I don't remember whatever fake past she conjured for me, but I can remember parts of that cursed castle. And I _was_ right- I did meet Axel before."

"Sora," Harry said suddenly,

"Who's Roxas?" Sora went absolutely still, and Harry froze as well as Sora's eyes met his with a furious intensity.

"_Where did you hear that name?!"_ Harry leant back a little, breathe catching in his throat.

"You were muttering it- before." Harry didn't dare ask out loud, but his eyes asked for him.

"_No one would miss me."_

"_That's not true. I would."_

Sora managed a breath. He could barely manage it over the tidal wave of inner pain that howled with furious intensity.

Sora wasn't sure- couldn't _be_ sure, but he suspected, oh, he did…

_Nobodies are created when people with powerful hearts become heartless._

When the heart leaves and only the darkness is left.

Sora, Roxas. Roxas, Sora.

God, even the bloody name…Add a bloody 'x' in and stir for good measure.

"Nobody, Harry," Sora said with absolute honesty.

"Just…a dream I had once. It's gone now." Partly true.

_You are Roxas._ Every reflection has a face…

Bloody Hat.

--

"By the way, Sora- you were unbelievably cool down in the Great Hall with the Bastard."

"Thanks- I rather liked your rant, personally."

"Boys," Hermione hissed.


	10. The Fobidden Forest

**Chapter Ten- The Forbidden Forest**

Two days later, Harry vanished.

Oh, it started out just like any other day at Hogwarts- Heartless, Gryffindor/Slytherin fights, Neville melting his 262nd cauldron in Potions…But then dinner came around and there was no Boy-Who-Lived to be found. Nobody really panicked at first, after all it wasn't unusual for Harry to seek a little solitude every now and then. But as the evening rolled into night, Hermione and Ron, not to mention Sora, began to fret. Finally, looking a little nervous, Hermione and Ron cautiously opened Harry's trunk, and rummaging through it pulled out what appeared to be a scrap of parchment. Sora failed to see how it could possibly be of any use, but Hermione didn't keep him in suspense, bending over the scrap and whispering,

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Sora's eyebrows shot up, then stayed there as lines began to draw themselves over the parchment, thick ink lines curving and forming some kind of map. The Marauder's Map, appeared boldly at the top of the parchment, and while Hermione was frantically scanning what appeared to be names, an invisible hand was writing something underneath the title…

"_Prongs sends his greetings and asks what he can do for you today_." Fascinated, Sora leant even closer just as Hermione sat back on her heels with a disappointed and slightly hysterical sigh.

"He's not here Ron! Not anywhere in Hogwarts!"

"_Prongs reiterates his previous statement and asks for what you are after?"_

"_Padfoot agrees and also would love to know the name of such a pretty lady!"_

Ron noticed the writing and frowned, before offering hesitantly,

"We're trying to find our friend Harry. He's not appearing on the map. Is there anywhere in Hogwarts he could be and not show up on the map?" The last was said with undeniable hope.

"_Harry? Ah, a previous user. There are several Harry's in Hogwarts but none of them are the previous owner of this map."_

"_Padfoot must regretfully remind that the map never lies. If he is not on here, he is not within Hogwart's boundaries."_

Sora bounded to his feet, humming with suppressed energy. One hand fluttered up to cover his heart, warmth growing inside as the Keyblade tried to form, battling the cold Sora felt as he realized something bad had happened to his friend.

Hermione looked sick, and Ron was so pale his freckles stood out like polka-dots.

"Harry… Harry would never leave Hogwarts. Especially not without the Map- or his cloak."

Ron pulled a lovely, shimmering silver cloak from Harry's still-open trunk.

"We've got to tell the teachers right away. Oh God, Ron, what if Vol-Voldemort's got him?"

Ron sucked in an agonized breathe.

"Come on, then," Sora hissed. "Let's stop wasting time- if Harry's been taken we'll just have to take him back. First things first- alert the teachers." And Sora dragged the two shaken teens to their feet and began to race for the portrait.

--

Harry was not having a good evening, _period_. It had started out badly and then gotten worse. Much worse.

It was Malfoy's fault. So much blame could be tossed at the prat's feet that Harry swore that if he got out of this alive he was going to make him regret everything he'd ever done to everyone Harry cared about. As well as himself. Cause things weren't looking so good, right now.

First, Harry had been staring dreamily across the lake, remembering all that had happened there- a magical competition and the arrival of Sora and his friends. When high-pitched screaming had erupted from over near Hagrid's hut, Harry hadn't even hesitated. Breaking into a sprint, wand in hand, Harry had crossed the intervening space in record time. In Hagrid's pumpkin patch- filled with grossly oversized pumpkins that looked like they were getting ready to take some Cinderella to the ball- a familiar and detested blonde figure was emitting an extremely painful squeal.

Harry gaped for a moment, trying to work out what the hell Draco of all people would be hanging around Hagrid's hut of all places, then reacted as dozens of inky black ferret like shadows surged over the blonde, hissing and scratching. (Some part of Harry's mind that wasn't currently preoccupied with what was happening howled 'ferrets?' and broke into hysterical laughter.) However, as irritating as Draco's squealing was, it was occurring because he was terrified and in some pain. Why's could wait for later, but for now Harry was concentrating on getting rid of the odd magical creatures attacking Malfoy.

And stopping that infernal sound.

"Repelious!" Blasting the shadow-ferrets back from Draco, Harry began to throw Stupefy's, not wanting to kill them and thus face Hagrid's wrath for killing some 'poor, defenseless creatures.' The little buggers didn't like that at all, and hissed and spat furiously, but didn't seem to want to stay anywhere near the irritated green-eyed wizard. They began to back off, and Harry watched them closely as Malfoy finally shut up and rolled to his knees.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Malfoy had been up to, Harry thought furiously, glancing back. The empty cage next to Hagrid's garden spoke for itself. The petty little brat had been trying to cause trouble for the gentle giant, and Harry shot Draco a look of contempt as he kept his wand on the little suckers that had tried to maul Malfoy as they escaped into freedom.

Great. Now he's have to try to catch them, or Merlin only knew what trouble they would cause. Harry had more than enough experience with Hagrid's 'pets'. A certain three-headed dog with the dubious name of 'Fluffy' immediately sprang to mind. While the ferret creatures didn't look quite as dangerous as a three-headed dog the size of a small house, Harry had learnt that magic made the ordinary into the extraordinary. Hopefully all they could do was scratch and hiss like they had at Malfoy, but Harry was taking no chances.

"Malfoy, help me round them up before something else happens!" A wild-eyed Draco shot Harry an incredulous look.

"Are you mad? I'm getting out of here!" It was Harry's turn to look incredulous as Draco turned tail and ran without a shred of dignity. Well, what had he expected from the prat? Honestly?

"Uh, hello, little shadow-thingies. You know, Hagrid will be real sad if any of you get lost, so how about coming back now that the nasty ponce is gone and getting safely back into your cage?" Harry knew the odds of this working were laughable, but figured it was worth a try.

Not unsurprisingly, the little 'shadow-thingies' didn't seem to trust him, after all he had used magic against them.

"Figures." Harry, starting to get a little angry, quickly began stunning and summoning the critters, tossing their stiff bodies back into the cage by the pumpkins.

"Come on, come on…" The creatures finally showed some magic as a ferret blurred, sprinting away, inky shadow changing to a dark green.

Camouflage, just what Harry needed. Racing after the last creature, trying to summon something he couldn't see, Harry didn't register until too late that he'd run into the Forbidden Forest.

Everything was all right until he realized that chasing the blasted ferret- who'd escaped, damn it- had gotten him inexplicably lost. He knew he hadn't run in that far, but unfortunately in the Forest if you strayed off the path the very trees bewitched you, calling you deeper and deeper in. Considering what lives in the forest, this was very bad. Still, with Harry having remembered the 'point-me' charm, things might have turned out alright.

However, it was at that point that he ran into the centaurs.

The very angry centaurs.

And things had gone downhill from there. So yes, this was clearly all Malfoy's fault.

--

The centaurs hadn't cared who he was or why he was there. They just seemed dead set on yelling furious insults and trying to shoot and/or trample him. Harry, quick on his feet, used his small size to his advantage, dodging the unhappy centaurs, and running in a random direction while cursing Malfoy, fate, and the world in general. Eventually, exhausted, Harry ducked behind a tree and slumped to hands and knees, panting for breath. He was still alive, and that was good. But now Harry was alone, in the Forbidden Forest, with angry centaurs and god-knows-what-else trying to kill him, with no knowledge of which way led to Hogwarts- and no-one knew where he was.

Well, Malfoy might tell people he'd seen Harry near Hagrid's, and possibly someone would make the connection, but Malfoy never did anything for anyone without a reason or compensation. So Harry was on his own here. Happily, Harry was used to being on his own in undeniably dangerous situations, and didn't panic like others might have. He tried a point-me charm with some hope, but the wild magic of the Forbidden Forest just sent his wand on a wild impersonation of a twister on Harry's palm until the youth simply gave up. Having caught his breath, and not hearing the sound of hooves anywhere, Harry got to is feet and brushed himself off. Time to get out of here. With any luck he'd find the path and could follow it- either deeper in or to Hogwarts was impossible to tell.

Really, how was Harry to know that a contingent of Death Eaters were stationed in the hazardous forest under the orders of their completely mad master?

Exactly. So while the following events were regrettable, they were clearly no-one's fault other than Malfoy's.

--

Geriz was a new Death Eater. And not particularly a powerful or clever one. He was still admiring himself in his scary new white mask, for one. He still practiced sneering. Which was why he was one of the people stuck on guard there, waiting for information from some of the more dangerous Dark Supporters. It was easy work, the Inner Circle decided, with the added bonus that maybe one of the werewolves or something would kill him. So Geriz, fledgling Dark Lord wannabe, was on guard duty the evening that one Harry Potter wandered accidentally through their camp. It was hard to tell who was more surprised. Harry, or the Death Eater. It was no contest, however, and Geriz fell to a stupefy in the time it took him to open his mouth. Harry backpedaled, eyes flickering around for the man's companions, but by then it was too late to run. As inept as Death Eater's generally are, even they will notice when the flash of a spell goes off, and their reactions, considering they were stuck in a rather lethal forest, were impressively quick. They were expecting any number of strange things, but the wide-eyed boy with a tell-tale scar was absolutely the last thing they expected.

"Shit! It's Potter!" After this direct statement, spells began to fly between the little Death Eater contingent and the Boy-Who-Lived, both groups rather wishing they were somewhere else. (Harry because, inept or not, they _were_ Death Eaters, and the inept Death Eaters because he _was_ Harry Potter.)

The Forest didn't seem to like the magic being exchanged in it's depths, and around the little group the atmosphere seemed to physically darken, as if the already present darkness got just a little bit worse.

Dodging behind a tree, Harry just missed a hastily thrown cruciatus curse, and whipping around the trunk, low to the ground, Harry shot of a volley of stupefy's and a few creative hexes that conveyed just how unhappy he was right now. A yelp signaled that his gender-reversal curse had indeed made contact, and Harry managed a vicious little smile before crawling behind another tree, listening.

Suddenly, things got very, very quiet. Harry frowned, and slowly slid one hand up to his ear, where he tapped the stone of his hidden earring. The whisper of disturbed greenery came to his ears. He tapped the stone again, and then Harry could hear voices.

"-round the other side. He must be over their somewhere, so if we can just surround him we'll be alright." There was a scraping sound, then a painful pause.

"Should we…Maybe we should go, inform one of the higher-up's… or something." Another pause, this one incredulous.

"Are you crazy? You're- oh Merlin. You're scared. Of a kid. A fucking fifteen year old _kid_."

"Shut it Merin," the voice hissed, and Harry thought wearily that he probably would have heard him even without the listening charm.

"It ain't just a kid, Merin, and you know it. It's Harry Potter! He's done lots of crazy stuff. If _He_ hasn't managed to kill him, how the hell are we supposed to?" Harry was caught between confusion and laughter. This was just…sad.

"If you don't shut up, right now, _I'm_ going to kill you. No need to be scared of a bloody kid, then. Besides, we aren't trying to kill him. We're going to capture him."

"Not kill him," squeaked a suspiciously high voice.

"That fucking **brat**," and Harry had never, outside of Snape, been referred to with such venom, "turned me into a fucking GIRL. I'm going to-" Merin cast an infuriated silencing charm on the enraged Death Eater. A quiet voice got in one last mutter, however.

"Think it's a bit of an improvement, Irv."

There was the sound of somebody being strangled.

--

During this fascinating exchange, Harry had had plenty of time to pinpoint the group's location, and then ensure that he was no-where to be found when they arrived at his previous location. Skirting up behind the Death Eater's with some bemusement for just how pathetic this lot really were, Harry prepared for some seriously quick spell casting.

"What the hell is Harry Potter doing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest anyway?"

Harry moved in, and in less than a minute, the group of Death Eater's was unconscious, and bound with both spells and rope. Still wearing a somewhat bemused expression, Harry began to wonder just what on earth he should do now.

--

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, an extensive search and a lot of worrying was underway. Sora was pacing in Dumbledore's office, absently petting Fawkes as he tried to sort out the evening's events.

"He's been missing since around two o'clock then?" Dumbledore, who was leaning over a spindly, silver contraption, hummed a distracted agreement.

"The Marauders Map- which is awesome, by the way- says he's no-where in Hogwarts. So was he kidnapped? I don't think he would have run away." Sora ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Ron and Hermione were off running around Hogwarts in the hope that Harry would show up, unable to sit still. Sora didn't blame them, but he also knew thinking things out often helped more than blindly reacting. He was surprised by how distressed and out-of-sorts Hermione had been. Her brilliant logic had fled her with the loss of her friend, and she was just as desperate and wild as Ron was.

Sora paced back past Dumbledore's desk and spread the Marauder's Map flat. He worried his bottom lip with his teeth, studying the details. Hermione and Ron were currently near the Room of Requirement, Snape in the dungeons. Dumbledore was next to him, and McGonagall was near the Great Hall. Donald and Goofy were searching out by the lake…Sora stopped, staring. Donald and Goofy weren't on the map. Sora knew that was where they were, _but they weren't on the map_.

So the map only showed the castle itself. Which meant Harry could have wandered out by the lake. If he was there, however, he would have been found by now, this panic diverted. But if he wasn't in Hogwarts _itself_, but on the _grounds_, then he just might be…Sora's eyes flew to the window, and he stared out, seeing in the distance the dark presence of the Forbidden Forest.

--

Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, and the very determined Hermione and Ron followed Sora as he lead the way fearlessly into the enchanted forest.

"You really think Harry's in here?" Hermione asked in a small, hopeful voice. Whether she was hopeful he was in there or not was hard to say.

"Almost certain," Sora offered. He'd seen the myriad of marks near Hagrid's hut, the open cage and the stunned creatures inside.

"My Herflers!" Hagrid had moaned, rushing to the unconscious animals, while Sora and the others had looked over the ground, seeing the mess- something had happened there.

"Harry must have been trying to capture the- uh, Herflers?- and maybe got lost in the forest." Sora frowned again, raising his head to listen.

"Though, I don't know why he would need to. Why were they loose?"

"My poor babies! Someone musta let the poor dears out! And they hate the cold, too!" Ron edged away from the tearful half-giant.

"Why would anyone do that?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulously. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances.

"Malfoy," they said as one.

"He's been sore at everyone for a while now. Probably wanted to get back at Hagrid for the- uh, Lake Incident- since he didn't dare try Sora. Prick." McGonagall drew in an outraged breathe, but Snape interrupted her silkily.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your mouth, Weasley." Ron colored with fury, but wisely said nothing, contenting himself with a glare at the teacher's back. Sora interrupted before anything else could happen.

"Um, don't freak out or anything, but it looks like something may have been chasing Harry. Something with…hooves?" Hermione freaked, but it was Ron who spoke.

"Oh Merlin, the centaurs. Harry told me about that detention in the forest. They really don't like humans."

"Not to worry, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said calmly, wrapped up in an almost visible cloud of magic.

"The centaurs and I get along quite well." He pretended not to hear Ron's mutter about that being all well and good, but what about the rest of them?

Sora and his two companions led them further in, choosing a zigzag pattern. Unfortunately, they lost the trail when the centaur tracks petered out.

"Well, the good news is that I don't think that Harry was captured by centaurs. The bad news is that Harry seems to be running further and further into the forest- and I've lost his trail." He sounded perplexed. Dumbledore gave a little sigh, lifting his wand and increasing the light from it's tip.

"The Forbidden Forest is aptly named, Sora. It is a dark and confusing place, and if you stray from the path- or were never on it at all- you are pulled further in." Snape sneered, muttering about foolish Gryffindor's, as he twisted to check either side of the small party.

"Aren't you going to use some magic to find them?" Sora prompted when the group came to a halt, looking around. This time it was a worried McGonagall who answered, as Hagrid and Fang tried to re-find the trail Sora had lost.

"We can't. The Forest won't allow it. Any magic performed within it acts oddly. Sometimes it's stronger- other times weaker. But the directional magic of the Forest works most specifically against location or pathfinder spells."

"Figures." Fang chose that moment to sit down on his haunches with a mournful sound.

"Sorry, Headmaster. Can't seem to find a trace anywhere. Like he vanished, or somethin'."

"Well you were a lot of use," Snape said snarkily, glittering eyes following the movements of an odd glowing bug. Sora, worried for his friend, snapped back before even Ron could.

"And what, exactly, have you done for us so far?" Hermione choked, seemingly in unison with Professor McGonagall, and Snape whirled with a dramatic flair of heavy robes to stare incensed at the Keyblade Master.

"Why you _insolent_ little brat, I'm-" Sora happily steamrolled the disagreeable bastard, no longer acting as student but as the Keyblade Master.

"Shut up. I'm trying to find my friend, and you're not helping. Therefore, unless you have something _constructive_ to say, which I doubt, I would like to hear silence from you." Circumstances aside, Ron looked like he could die of happiness. Snape had gone dead white, mouth pinched with rage, and his wand was held in a white-knuckled grip.

Before the enraged professor could regain the power of speech, Sora continued.

"I'll warn you once. Don't try to attack me. You're a dark bastard alright, but you haven't got what it takes to defeat me. I don't like you, you don't like me, and soon we'll have world's between us. Until then, kindly remain quiet." There was a short, ugly, and very deep silence.

"_Ser_-" Snape had begun a spell, face twisted into something truly ugly, but before he could finish the first syllable, Oathkeeper materialized and was resting against his throat.

"Didn't I say not to do that?" Dumbledore suddenly stepped between them, gently maneuvering Oathkeeper's tip away from his Potion Professor's throat. Sora allowed him to, although the Keyblade seemed to pulse, deeply, and the Headmaster pulled his hand away as if burned.

"Stop it, both of you. We're all here to find Harry. I'll have no more petty bickering. If we can't find Harry's trail, we'll just have to ask some of the Forest Dwellers for help. Unfortunately, Remus is looking after something for me back at Headquarters" Judging by the way McGonagall was gaping, this was a-must-be-Dumbledore crazy plan.

"Actually, Professor," Sora interrupted, "I think I might have a quicker way."

--

Sora stood with his eyes closed, ignoring Snape's dark, hatred filled whispers. He could feel Ron and Hermione's desperate gaze. Donald and Goofy were protecting them all, weapons at the ready. Sora ignored them all.

He was concentrating. He held Oathkeeper before him, and his entire heart was focused on the blade. Thoughts of Kairi filled his head for a moment, and then he let them fade. He wasn't looking for her. Instead, Sora thought fiercely of Harry, of the trouble he could be in, and begged the Keyblade to find him. For a long moment, nothing happened, and Sora opened his eyes with a sigh.

Then a great warmth seemed to overtake him, and a brilliant light shot from the Keyblade's tip, shooting off into the bushes. It was like when the Keyblade located a Keyhole, but the shimmering path instead led him to Harry. Elated, Sora realized that he could probably find the Keyhole at Hogwarts like this, as soon as he got at least a general idea of where it was. A place of importance, of possibility…

But for now Harry waited, and without needing to explain anything, Sora broke into an easy run, following the path of light.

--

The reunion with Harry was a somewhat emotional one, with Hermione bursting into tears and launching herself at Harry, who was staring at the shimmering light that connected him to Sora's weapon and only now began to die down. Ron sniffed a little, but his attention was caught almost immediately by the unconscious group of Death Eater's at Harry's feet.

"Whaaa?" This seemed to be the general consensus. McGonagall gaped, loosing all sense of decorum, and even Snape seemed shocked. Dumbledore, however, just kept twinkling away.

"Harry! You're alright!" And bursting into loud tears Hagrid lunged forward and enveloped Harry- and by proximity, Hermione as well- into a massive bear hug. Already choking under Hermione's ministrations, now Harry's face began to take on a serious blue tinge.

"Air," he whimpered pathetically. He was terribly glad to see them all too, and guessed correctly that Sora had used the Keyblade to find him. However, if they killed him it would all be for nothing. Hagrid finally began to calm down into sniffles, and let Harry and Hermione's feet find solid earth again. Dumbledore then managed to get a question in edgewise, from where he and the other teachers surrounded the motley crew of unconscious Death Eaters.

"Harry, what on earth happened here? How did you end up in the Forest? And with these men?" Harry winced.

"It was Malfoy," be offered miserably. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Professor McGonagall sniffed disapprovingly, shooting Snape a dark look.

"Really, Potter. Do tell how this all came about." Harry winced again.

"Well, uh, I was trying to catch all the little ferret things that were climbing all over Malfoy, I'd heard him scream, see, and-" Ron cut him off with a snort here, his voice taking on a peculiar high-pitch.

"Ferrets, you say? You're right, those Her-thingies did kind of look like ferrets…" And trailing off, Ron broke into muffled laughter, trying to suffocate his amusement unsuccessfully into his wrist. Harry might have been mistaken, but he could have sworn he saw amusement flash through Professor McGonagall's eyes.

"Yeah," Harry choked out.

"Um, I accidentally ended up in the Forest, and then these really unhappy centaurs kept trying to kill me…"

"You captured them all by yourself," Professor McGonagall exclaimed, shocked. Harry sighed.

"You make it sound so difficult. These morons were so pathetic it was sad…"

"Death Eaters? Pathetic?" Her voice rose several notches.

"Seriously, Professor. These guys were newbie's, and frankly, sucked. I was just wondering how I was going to get out of here when you guys showed up."

"Don't worry, Harry. Now that we've got you, we'll just follow the path. Hagrid's very knowledgeable about these woods. And what an interesting and unlikely discovery you've made. Doubtless these men will have little useful information, but none the less, well done Harry. In future, however, perhaps it would be best if you avoided the Forbidden Forest." Harry shook his head, confused and irritated. Like he'd _wanted_ to be here. He caught sight of Sora nearby, who was watching the reunion with happy eyes. Beaming, Harry strode over and hugged him, hard.

"Thank-you for finding me in this crazy place! I was starting to go insane…" Sora laughed and hugged him back just as fiercely.

"I've already told you, Harry. Anything for a friend."

"Touching. Now let's get the hell out of here before anything else happens." And after noting the location of the Death Eater's encampment, that's exactly what they did.

--

The tree-line was met with great enthusiasm.

"Yes! We didn't run into or get eaten by any giant spiders!"

"Aragog would never hurt you, Ron." Hagrid began wounded, but Ron began to choke and snarl with such unspoken anger that he broke off.

"The HELL…wouldn't… kill YOU…nearly DIED…" Harry and Hermione both put an arm around the incoherent boy and led him out of the forest, as Sora followed laughing.

--

"A quick stop at the Hospital Wing, I think, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said briskly. Harry's mouth fell open.

"But I'm fine!"

"Mr. Potter," the transfiguration teacher said with a sigh, "You always say that."

"You say it when you fall of broomsticks, when you run into Death Eaters and when you irritate dragons. Forgive me for my disbelief." And before a gaping Harry could say anything, she began to drag him towards the medical wing, with a highly amused Sora half-heartedly offering to heal any scratches or bruises in tow.

--

With the Death Eater's safely restrained in the hospital wing under the watchful eye of several teachers, and Harry once more safe and sound within Hogwarts, it should have been a quiet night from then on.

Alas.


	11. To Sleep, To Dream

**Chapter Eleven- To sleep, to dream**

Voldemort- or more precisely, Tom Marvello Riddle, had not been idle. While he generally favored long, convoluted plans that tended to unfold against one Harry Potter at the end of the school year, he was not above the quick skirmish. (Hell, if his brilliant schemes didn't work, maybe a more direct approach would.) He'd spent days finalizing his plan; to kill his short, scar-headed nemesis, perhaps off Dumbledore, and to steal the fascinating and obviously powerful magical weapon off of the 'other-world' brat. However, simply showing up at Hogwarts would not be acceptable. He was enjoying the obliviousness of the Ministry far too much, and had many sneaky, brilliant, and ruthless schemes that were currently in delicate stages. So an assault on the castle was out. But a sneaky Slytherin like Voldemort didn't have to show up at Hogwarts with an army to get what he wanted. No, he had a much better idea…

It was just unfortunate coincidence that his plan unfolded at the same time that Harry and the Death Eaters were under observation in the hospital wing.

Albus Dumbledore, the only one Voldemort had ever feared- except, possibly, Harry- was up in his office contacting the Ministry of Magic in regards to the captured Death Eaters while Harry sat under Pomfrey's watchful eyes munching on chocolate. (Only in the wizarding world would chocolate have official, medical benefits. Still, after horrific potions like Skele-grow, medicine that tasted nice was somewhat of a novelty…) The motley band of Death Eaters lay bound in enchanted sleep, as well as being physically tied down to their beds. There were five of them, four males and one male-turned female. Harry had blushed when Madame Pomfrey had discovered the hex on the Death Eater, but said nothing. Apparently, he'd been so annoyed when he'd cast his charms it would be a while before they faded.

What a shame.

It was a somewhat warm and cheery scene, with Ron, Hermione, Sora and his friends all gathered around Harry drinking hot chocolate and distracting Madame Pomfrey every time she went to chuck them out. It wasn't as if Harry was badly hurt, after all. Madame Pomfrey had had a somewhat perplexed look on her face as after her fifth scan she concluded that Harry had survived his little jaunt in the Forbidden Forest with the centaurs and the Death Eaters without serious injury.

"It had to happen sometime, Madame Pomfrey," the boy had teased her.

"I still think Malfoy should have gotten worse than a few detentions," Ron whined pathetically, swiping a chocolate frog in mid-jump as it made it's bid for freedom.

"A few? Try a week of detentions, and the loss of fifty House points. Really, Ron, what did you expect?" Hermione shouldn't have asked, because Ron instantly adopted a maniacal expression and began to cackle half under his breathe about being expelled, dragons, and something about Dobby…

His friends wisely ignored him.

"I wouldn't worry about it either way," Harry broke in.

"The twins are always looking for new test subjects, after all. I know for a fact that Malfoy's about to have a really bad week." Harry drifted off with a dreamy smile.

He was a Gryffindor, after all, no matter how many Slytherin traits he had.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Poppy muttered to herself from where she stood organizing her potion's cabinet. Minerva hummed agreement from where she stood guard over the unconscious captives.

Unaware of their audience, the little group lying sprawled over the two beds continued on, wondering what kind of creative spells the twins would try out next. Suddenly, however, Sora sat bolt upright with a gasp, grabbing everyone's attention.

"I forgot! Hey Harry, you know how I found you, with the Keyblade? I think I can do the same to find the Keyhole as soon as I get some idea of what the Keyhole _is_." His friends burst into excited chatter, but the Hogwart's crew looked a little lost.

"But Sora, won't you disappear then?" Hermione asked tremulously. Sora sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair. (Both him and Harry had hair that seemed as if it was constantly trying to escape.) Harry and Ron looked crestfallen.

"Yeah," Sora said softly.

"That's the thing I hate the most, in my travels. I meet the most amazing people, see the most amazing worlds…and I always have to leave. As much as I love it here, I've got a job to do. As peaceful as everything seems right now, it's not. There's some seriously dark stuff going down, and me'n Donald and Goofy and the King need to stop it. Otherwise all the worlds and all the people I've met will fall into darkness." There was a heavy silence.

"Plus, we didn't arrive here in the normal fashion." Sora blinked.

"If you can ever count a gummi ship as normal…but once we get back, maybe we can find this world again, and visit." Hermione sniffed and ran a sleeve over her eyes.

"Yes, you have to visit all the time! And if you ever need any help…" Her friends agreed, fiercely demanding he promise.

"Whoa! I'm not gone yet! The Keyhole's still hiding, so I think there's something I've still got to do here. But don't worry, no matter where I am, you'll all be in my heart. That may sound a little funny, but it's true. I won't forget any of you, and you'll be safe there." Ron was uncharacteristically silent as he listened. Harry nodded fiercely, echoing the Keyblade Master.

"In my heart…I like that." Sora smiled. At the potion's cabinet, the unnoticed Poppy wiped at her eyes and smiled.

--

While this touching scene was being played out, something dark and unusual was happening elsewhere in Hogwarts. (Dark and unusual, sure, but not for Hogwarts…)

And no, it wasn't Creevey prowling around with his camera, although on occasion that fit the description…

It began simply, with just another owl soaring down to join the others in the Owlery, a non-descript bird with a small package and letter tied to it's feet. The bird mixed with the others for a while, before searching for someone in the castle. If you looked really, really closely, the words _Severus Snape_ were visible on the face of the letter…

To give the Potion's Master credit, he wasn't playing fast and loose with the 'light' side of the war, but regardless of his own, messed-up personal feelings, he bore the Dark Mark. He may be secretly defying the Dark Lord and acting as spy, but the presence of the Mark was undeniable. And when it came to the Dark Lord, such an innocuous thing had several hidden _abilities_ no-one was aware of.

Whether he liked it or not, Snape was going to play an important part in the night's events.

"_Speak to me, Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwart's Four…"_

And what a night it was going to be, one way, or another.

--

There are potions that can do some truly amazing and terrifying things. People can use them to change form, induce luck, and to counter poisons. They can also use potions to subvert free will, to cause pain and delusions, force truth and even potions that a single whiff of the fumes would kill instantly. Yes, people often scoffed at the Art of potions, because it was a time consuming process, an exact art, unlike the more popular wand waving that got instant results.

It's fairly easy to counter a spell, compared to trying to counteract a substance that runs through your blood.

The question now, was what was Voldemort doing that involved a possessed Potion's Master and the Chamber of Secrets?

--

Harry was just beginning to yawn. It had been an eventful evening, after all.

"Maybe we should all go to bed," he offered. Ron sighed, eyeing a near-by chess board longingly.

"You don't want to-"

"No, Ron. You'd just win anyway. Just consider me beaten for tonight."

"Harry needs to sleep, anyway," Hermione said in a bossy tone.

"He's had a busy day." Harry lifted an eyebrow slightly but conceded the point. Ron suddenly yawned.

"Blimey, you might be right. Suddenly I'm exhausted too." Madame Pomfrey, who had long since finished her organizing, stifled a yawn herself, fighting the sudden, inexplicable need to sleep.

"Well, come on then," Harry said, getting to his feet with an effort. Maybe his run in the Forbidden Forest had tired him more than he thought. Hermione shuffled next to him, face drawn. Harry frowned. Ron ignored them both, having tipped over into the spot Harry had vacated, and was now snuggled into the pillow, eyes shut.

"Ron? Come on Ron, we know you're awake. Let's go already. We can't sleep here."

Ron didn't answer, and Harry reached over and shook him.

"Ron, alright already." The red-head didn't stir, but lay limply. Harry yawned again, and realized Hermione was leaning heavily against him.

_Why am I so tired?_

Sora was watching this all with a frown, staring at the barely awake Harry, the sleeping boy on the bed, and then turned to stare at the two teachers.

Madame Pomfrey was shaking her head, and Professor McGonagall was blinking rapidly from where she'd slumped against the wall. A chill ran up his spine.

"Sora, something's wrong," Harry cried out. Sora turned to face him, noticing that he was dead white, his eyes glittering emerald against the pallor. He was trying to wake Hermione up, but slumped against him, she didn't even stir.

"They won't wake up!"

Finally, he managed to get Hermione into a chair where she folded up, still asleep.

"Madame Pomfrey! Professor McGonagall! Something's making you all sleep! You've got to fight it," Sora yelled, racing to Harry's side and jerking the nodding teen's head up. His eyes were beginning to glaze, but a desperate spark within burned, and somehow the youth remained awake.

Thump.

Madame Pomfrey had slid to the floor, and now lay still and quiet, draped across the floor as if it was her bed. Professor McGonagall swore terribly, swaying.

"It must be a spell. Harry, you need to contact the Headmaster, find out if it's just us or not. Hurry!" And eyelids fluttering, the teacher managed a quick spell, a shining gold beam lancing across the room to hit the Boy-Who-Lived before she too passed out.

The light seemed to help, and although looking like he was about to drop any second, a little more life flared in Harry's eyes as he straightened. Sora and his friends, seemingly unaffected by whatever had touched the others, most likely because of their resistance to wizarding magic, tried quickly to rouse the others, but nothing worked.

"Come on! Something terrible must be happening!" With incredible inner strength, Harry with the aid of his teacher's spell, was fighting the affects of whatever was clouding his mind and draining his strength. It wasn't like the Imperio curse, because Harry couldn't seem to throw it off. He would push it back, and then it would come again. Stubbornly, Harry kept on going, latching onto Sora's arm for support as they raced towards the Headmaster's Office. It was late, now, but even still they saw several unconscious students lying terribly still as they passed. A concerned ghost spotted them and called out, but the little group didn't stop.

--

The basilisk that had plagued the school had avoided detection because of its chosen method of travel- the pipes. And now, from down in the lower areas of the school, in a hidden chamber assessable only by Parseltongue's- or those possessed by them- an infuriated but helpless Potion's Master was supervising the release of a potion. The bubbling cauldron released waves of heavy bluish smoke that drifted up and into the pipes, loosing color as it did so and merging with the air. Before long, the fumes would be distributed all over the school, rendering all it's occupants temporarily helpless. The Potion of Forced Sleep…

No wonder Harry couldn't fight it off. He was constantly breathing it in, after all.

--

Despite it all, the guardian to the Headmaster's Office refused to let them pass.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Lemon drops! Mars bars! Blood pops! Sugar Quills! Just bloody open up before I turn you into rubble!" Before Harry could burst a blood vessel, Sora summoned Oathkeeper, and leveled it at the gargoyle. Without a word, brilliant gold light lanced from the weapon and slammed into the stone creation, forcing it out of the way. They hurried up.

"Professor? Dumbledore? We need help!" Gasping for breathe, Harry burst into the office.

"Headmaster?" There was no-one there. Why, when they needed help, was no-one ever there?

"Where could he- Sora! Do you still have the Map?" Sora was lost for a moment, then remembering, whipped the enchanted object from his pocket and thrust it into Harry's hands.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he hissed hurriedly.

_Padfoot greets you and welcomes the young mischief maker back._

_Prongs agrees. What wonderful mayhem may we help you unleash today?_

Scanning for the dot marked 'Dumbledore', Harry somehow wasn't surprised to find it absent from the map.

"I don't know how much of this you can understand. But there's something bad happening at Hogwarts, and it's probably got something to do with Voldemort. Dumbledore's missing, and everyone's fallen under some sort of sleep spell. Can you tell me if there's anything wrong with the map? I mean, can you sense intruders, or something?" Briefly abandoning the map, Sora was over at Dumbledore's desk, frowning as he searched through it's contents.

_Moony is sorry to hear that there is trouble in Hogwarts. But if Dumbledore is not on the Marauder's Map, then he is not in Hogwarts._

Sora shook his head.

"Not necessarily, uh, Moony. Harry here was lost in the Forbidden Forest earlier, and the Forest isn't on the map."

Harry was searching out the teachers on the Map, fingers gliding over the old parchment, muttering to himself.

_The Forbidden Forest? Prongs must offer his appreciation for such a bold move_.

_Padfoot heartily agrees. The Forest, however, is not on our Map, the Map is for the Castle alone. _

Harry stared down at the Map in despair, fingers hovering over the dot marked 'Flitwick'. It, like the rest of them, was still and unmoving. All of the teachers…

Hold on, Harry thought, where's Snape?

"You know, Harry, it's possible Dumbledore went to speak to the ministry about the captured Death Eaters," Sora mused.

Harry sat bolt upright. He'd forgotten about that, in all the panic. Double-checking the map, he looked up at Sora, still pale and exhausted.

"I also can't find Snape anywhere in the castle. All the other teacher's are here- even Hagrid's still in the kitchens. He wouldn't have gone with Professor Dumbledore, not and risk his spy status. _But I can't find him_." Goofy and Donald exchanged looks, lost. Sora bit his lip so hard it bled. Harry was still fighting the effects of whatever spell had been cast, everyone else was unconscious, and the most suspicious teacher at Hogwarts was missing.

"Harry, is there anyway we can contact people outside the castle? Perhaps call Dumbledore back?" Harry rocked back and forth in thought.

"We can't use the floo, we don't have authorization. All I can think of is sending an owl. That'll take a little while, but is suppose it's the best we can do."

"Alright, we need to do that, then. Meanwhile, Snape's still missing, and someone's put everyone to sleep for a reason, and I doubt it's a good one."

"We'll talk about it on the way to the Owlery." Sora nodded, helping Harry up as they turned towards the door.

"_?_" The long musical note had a questioning sound. Startled, Sora whipped round in time to receive an armful of phoenix.

"Fawkes? What-" The bird climbed up onto his shoulder and warbled cheerfully.

"Well, at least you're okay."

"Hold on," Harry exclaimed, excited.

"Fawkes here can get to Dumbledore! Can't you Fawkes?" The bird in question warbled curiously and tightened his grip on Sora, clearly planning on going nowhere.

"Please, Fawkes, it's really, really important! There's something really wrong here! Wouldn't you just take a message to him?" The phoenix half-spread his wings, thwacking Sora in the head. A glittering dark eye rolled to stare at the swaying Boy-Who-Lived.

Taking this as an answer, Harry pulled some scrunched up parchment from his pocket, and racing to Dumbledore's desk scribbled a quick explanation.

"Here!" The phoenix extended one red-gold leg and grabbed the measly letter in one glittering golden claw. With a sweet cry, he leapt into the air, and in a flash of fire was gone. There was a moment of silence.

"Now what?" Harry fought to think through the ever-growing fog that threatened to drag him under.

"What is Tom after? Me? Dumbledore? Something else? Merlin, what if he's planning on taking over Hogwarts," the boy panicked.

" Calm down, Harry. You told me he's still hiding from the Ministry. He wouldn't dare try such a bold move." Yet. And Harry and Dumbledore were still fair game…

"You're right. What do we do, then?"

"I suppose we should try to secure all the entrances and exits. And keep an eye on the map to see if Snape or anybody else shows up."

Several Weasley Twins trap jinxes later, Sora and his friends admired their work.

"Do you know any other entrances or exits, Harry? Secret passages, or something?"

"I think we got them all," Harry said absently, eyes flittering over the Map.

"Right, Prongs, Padfoot?"

The Map agreed.

"Right, then. I suppose Dumbledore-" Sora broke off as Harry stiffened, hands whitening around the Marauder's Map.

"No, no it isn't possible…I didn't even think…But surely he couldn't get in? Why would- but Ginny…oh no." Sora, Donald and Goofy were understandably confused by Harry's incoherent mumbling.

"What? Harry, what is it?" Harry seemed to snap out of his horrified daze, lifting dead eyes to stare at them.

"The Chamber of Secrets. It isn't on the Map because the Marauder's never discovered it." Unnoticed, the Map erupted into excited scribbling.

"The Chamber of what? Isn't that where you faced a basilisk?" The Map moved into an absolute frenzy.

"Yeah, the entrance is located in the old girl's bathroom. But you have to be a Parseltongue to enter, and Snape isn't one. But neither was Ginny, and she got in because she was possessed by a memory form of Voldemort. Snape's a Death Eater. Although I'm never certain on any given day whose side he's on, I bet you anything Voldemort's using him somehow to enchant the school. He's a potion's Master, he could do it."

"Well, _Bloody Hell_."

"We can't wait for Dumbledore. If someone just keeps an eye on the entrances, the rest of us should stop Snape so we can undo whatever he's done." Sora nodded, thinking fast.

"Donald, Goofy, you guys stay here and keep an eye on things. When you see Dumbledore arrive on the Map, get to him and let him know what's going on. Me and Harry will go to this chamber- you're a Parseltongue, aren't you Harry?"

"Yeah- are you sure you want to-"

"Don't bother even trying Harry. It's all you can do to stand, right now." And after a quick, hissed argument with Donald, the group split up, Harry handing the map to the duck Mage and leading Sora off towards the hidden chamber.


	12. The Chamber of Secrets take two

**Chapter Twelve- The Chamber of Secrets take two**

Myrtle's bathroom was exactly as Harry remembered it, still perpetually flooded with the ghost girl's misery. Speaking of ghost girls…

"Myrtle! Are you in here?" There was a sob from a cubicle, and then a curious silvery face peeked through the door.

"Harry? What are you doing in here? You never come to visit me…" There was an increase in the miserable sobs. Sora stared in wonder at the unhappy ghost. Of all the things at Hogwarts, it was the ghosts he had taken the longest to get used to.

"I'm sorry, Myrtle. I've been really busy. I promise I'll make more of an effort, okay? But I really need your help- can you tell me, did Sn-Professor Snape come in here at all?" The ghost drifted slowly out to meet them, adjusting her thick glasses.

"Yes, and he was so rude! Clutching at his arm, muttering to himself- and he never said a word to me at all!"

"Yeah, he's a real git," Harry said distractedly. Clutching at his arm? So the dark mark was hurting, was it? That had to be significant, Voldemort was after something… With a somewhat confused Sora in his wake, Harry rushed to the sinks, remembering an incident years earlier. There! The tiny carving of the snake. Harry concentrated.

"_Open!_" The word came out as a low hiss. Sora jumped a little. Awesome… With a heavy grating sound, the sink fell away, revealing the dark hole that led down to the mysterious Chamber of Secrets.

"Wow," Sora muttered.

"Now that's cool." Harry gripped his wand tightly, noticing that this close to the chamber, he suddenly didn't feel as tired. He wondered why.

"You ready? It's a bit of a fall."

"I'm ready. Let's bag ourselves a potion's teacher and find out what this dark lord of yours is after."

"Sure- but he's not my dark lord."

"Sorry, of course." And they both jumped in. Myrtle drifted closer to the sink and stared down, watching as the entrance closed over and became an ordinary, mundane sink once more.

--

Thud! Harry had been right- it had been a bit of a fall- or slide.

"Ow."

"I hear you. For some reason that hurt worse than it did when I was younger." Harry cast _lumos_, and held his wand aloft, illuminating the little cavern they were in, and the bones scattered across the floor.

"Gross," Sora muttered, summoning Oathkeeper and shifting forward cautiously.

"We should be careful- and quiet- from now on. Don't want to alert Snape, after all."

They both began to wriggle their way through the gap in the wall created by a backfiring memory charm. It was a tight fit, but they made it.

"The chamber's not far ahead," Harry whispered, hissing _open_ to activate the stone snake guardians. They slid apart, and Harry dimmed the light from his wand as the two began to creep forward, following the light that came from ahead.

--

Severus Snape, all around unhappy guy, stood at the foot of the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin, as his cauldron continued to release bluish fumes that drifted up into the pipes. The potion was nearly finished completing it's work, and everyone in Hogwarts would be bound in enchanted sleep for twenty four hours. Or longer, if they were continuously exposed. Even now, one hand was clenched tightly around his forearm, digging into the flesh as if trying to tear something out. With his robes yanked up to expose his pale arm, the Dark Mark was a livid brand on his skin, throbbing with a dark scarlet light as Voldemort controlled his servant. Crouching at the entrance to the chamber, Sora and Harry watched, instantly connecting the smoking cauldron with the school's induced sleep. Harry gritted is teeth in silent fury, and turned back to Sora, communicating his question through his eyes. Sora nodded, and as one they raised their respective weapons.

_Stupefy!_ Caught completely by surprise, Snape slumped, having not expected an attack in the highly secret chamber. He slumped forward, however, and only Sora's hastily cast aeroga kept him from falling head first into his own potion.

As amusing as that would have been. Slowly standing up, Harry blinked.

"Well, that was…easy." Sora agreed, shrugging a shoulder while glancing around the chamber. Everything was reflected eerily in the water all over the chamber, and with the blue smoke the room seemed to be nothing but a dream. The two slowly began to approach the downed professor and the cauldron.

"Ew, Harry, the giant dead snake stinks."

"Better it than me."

"Well, when you put it that way…" They cautiously came to a stop before the cauldron.

"This smoke- it must be what's making everyone sleep," Harry stated more than asked.

"So…will getting rid of it stop the affects?" Sora knew far less about potions than Harry, having only been in the wizarding world for a little while. He shrugged.

"Maybe. You know more than me."

"Well, whether everyone will wake up straight away or not, getting rid of this crap can only help." Sora tightened his grip on Oathkeeper, feeling uneasy. Harry was rubbing his scar distractedly, frowning at his unconscious teacher- with his oddly bright Dark Mark, and the smoking cauldron. He could try Vanishing it, he supposed, but he wasn't all that good at the spell yet. Judging by Sora's bemused look he would be no help in that department. Merlin, his head was aching something fierce, fighting off the potion had drained him more than he'd realized. Nonetheless he lifted his wand, focusing with all his strength on the innocent looking cauldron. He uttered the spell in a defiant little hiss, and with a sudden, sharp pop it disappeared- off to who knew where. He slumped, flashing Sora a triumphant but weary smile. Sora didn't return it, his attention suddenly elsewhere.

Oh yes, catching Snape had been incredibly easy.

However, knocking out everyone at Hogwarts had only been a part of Voldemort's plans, and while Sora and Harry were busy subduing the teacher, Tom Riddle had been lazily strolling down a highly secret passage into the Chamber of Secrets.  
_From the outside._

Figures someone as sneaky as Salazar Slytherin would have a way out- into the Forbidden Forest, of course. In one of those little quirks of fate, the Dark Lord entered the chamber- through the passage that came out of Slytherin's mouth, where the basilisk had once emerged. For what had a parseltongue to fear of such beasts? (Harry could argue this point.) Sora, hearing the grating of shifting stone, stared upright just as Harry vanished the cauldron, and found himself staring straight into crimson eyes. Voldemort was just as surprised, but his wand was out in a heartbeat.

Sora was just as fast.

"Harry!" And he spun, grabbed the boy, and flung them both down and to the side. Dark crimson light flared, missing them as they dodged the spells.

Harry was confused and very tired. He was winded as Sora flung them to the ground, but the cry of his name and the pain of the impact helped to clear his mind. He rolled to his knees as Sora regained his feet, Keyblade slanted across his body.

Then he saw what had attacked them, and froze for a moment before suddenly everything inside him seemed to go haywire, adrenalin surging through him like a shot of caffeine had been injected into his veins.

Voldemort was in Hogwarts. Voldemort was standing right in front of them.

This was bad.

--

The Dark Wizard fell lightly to the ground- too lightly for the distance, but that's magic for you. He was smiling, a not-nice smile, and his crimson eyes studied the two youths with something akin to pleasure. He didn't even spare a glance for the unconscious professor lying draped at the bottom of the statue's feet in a parody of Ginny's position years before.

"Well, isn't this unexpected. How nice of you two to come and meet me. _Just_ the people I wanted to see."

Very, very bad.

--

Sora didn't waste time with pleasantries, he just shifted his grip slightly and flung Oathkeeper at the dark wizard in a strike raid.

You cannot apperate in Hogwarts, but technically this chamber wasn't in Hogwarts, wasn't recognized by any of the wards. The secret chamber couldn't be apperated into, of course, that defeats the purpose of having a secret chamber, but nothing stopped you apperating out. Or around. Thus, Riddle avoided the blow simply by not being there to be hit.

"Temper, temper." The wizard mocked, sidestepping the stupefy that Harry flung at him.

"Youth today. So very impatient…"

Sora began to hate him just because he sounded a little like Axel. Gah, scary place…

"Shut up," Harry hissed, infuriated that the monster who had ruined his life had dared once more to hurt the people he cared about.

"You bastard. What are you doing here? Why have you done all this?" Harry wasn't entirely sure he wanted answers.

Fully in control of the moment, Riddle was lazy and unconcerned in his reply.

"Why, Harry, I had thought that would be rather obvious. Just out of curiosity, why are you and your key wielding friend here? Good job on staying conscious, by the way." Licking dry lips, heart pounding, Harry marveled at the craziness of his current situation. Beside him Sora was tensed, ready for anything, Oathkeeper humming in his grip.

"I asked first." Harry flushed a bit after that, realizing he sounded like a child.

Uh, newsflash…

Tom Marvelo Riddle, or Voldemort, if you rearranged the letters of his name, was in a fabulous mood. Why, his prey had simply wandered on up to him!

"Please, Harry, do be patient. Even you must have figured this out. You've been a thorn in my foot for far too long, surviving on _luck_. I'm afraid I'm going to end all that tonight. I can't appear weak before the world, after all. And as for your new friend…" The dark lord trailed off, his ruby gaze shifting to Sora, examining him, focusing on the glittering key in his hand, practically screaming Power.

"My, what an interesting weapon you have their, boy. What is your name? Sora, isn't it?" Sora said nothing, but stepped forward a little.

"You're not touching Harry," he said firmly.

"Well, that's nice, child. I tell you what, it's been a good day, after all. You hand over that weapon and I'll let your friend- and the occupants of this pathetic school, go unharmed. Your choice."

Harry erupted.

"Leave Sora alone, you psychopath! He's got nothing to do with this!" Without looking away from the dark lord, Sora smiled, a hard, ruthless smile.

"Hello, Tom. Harry's told me all about you." Sora ignored the hiss as the wizard reacted to his name.

"I'm afraid, however, that whatever you've been told about this weapon is incorrect. I cannot give it to you, and you cannot wield it. It is how it was constructed, or came into being." And cocking his head to the side, the Keyblade Master watched the Dark Lord of his current world, as if fascinated. And to the utter surprise of the other two conscious occupants of the chamber, tossed the Keyblade towards Voldemort in a lazy underhand throw.

Harry gaped.

"Sora! What are you doing?! Who knows what dark magic…" Harry trailed off, for as Voldemort caught the weapon, eyes wary but lighting up greedily nonetheless, the weapon flashed brightly and reappeared in Sora's hand, glowing brightly as if to say, 'so there!'

"Foolish child. Do you think a mere summoning charm would-"

Sora began to laugh.

"You must really be a piece of work if the Keyblade wouldn't let you hold it for even a moment." Then his expression closed over, mouth tightening.

"Foolish wizard," he mocked back, "thinking you understand everything. I told you, the Keyblade can do nothing for you. Now, I think it's time you left Hogwarts, because neither Harry or myself will allow you to harm anyone here."

Voldemort was a little taken aback, but laughed nonetheless.

"Arrogant little thing, aren't you? I might just keep you for a while, see if my Death Eater's couldn't break you in."

"Why? Couldn't do it yourself?" Harry winced, thinking that Sora was much too like himself, sometimes.

"Besides, if it _is_ true that no-one but you can handle that thing, then I will simply have to handle you instead. Between you and Harry, my next few weeks should be quite amusing."

Ignoring the implied torture waiting for both Harry and himself, Sora felt himself go cold at the thought of being controlled, flashes of confused memory making him somewhat savage.

"Better than you have tried, you sick bastard." And instead of throwing the Keyblade, Sora leapt the eight or so feet between them and whipped the Keyblade around to strike. Harry reacted as soon as his friend moved, casting a succession of stunning and blasting spells as fast as he could.

Shocked at the speed of the blue-eyed boy, Riddle barely avoided the blow, and again apperated, this time to behind Harry. Harry felt the flare of darkness against his back like heat from a fire, and threw himself to the ground, rolling away and casting a reducto curse over his shoulder. Tom had been ready, however, and the crucio curse struck the rolling boy a fleeting blow across the shoulders. Harry had only a moment to scream, however, for Sora had crossed the intervening distance in a single bound and caught Riddle full across the face, flinging him to the ground.

Voldemort simply hadn't been prepared for the Keyblade's extreme reaction to dark beings. He felt weakened, as if the blow had struck more than his flesh. His face was ripped deeply across the cheek, and it was only that he'd been leaning back from Harry's spell that had saved him.

He began to get angry.

Dark energy reminding Sora of Nobodies flared around the now irate Dark Lord.

"Oh child, you are going to _regret_ that."

Then, to coin a well used phrase, everything went to hell.

--

Dumbledore had been having a good evening. He'd just gotten a new supply of lemon drops, for one, and was enjoying them deeply as he watched Fudge splutter as he received his news about the captured death eaters in Hogwarts.

He was utterly unaware of the unfolding drama taking place at said school, blissfully enjoying his lollies.

"Now come, Dumbledore, surely…" The aged headmaster tuned out briefly as the Minister began once more to try to talk his way out of the trouble he found at his door.

"..must be a hoax. Probably that odd kid. I know that you…" He tuned out again, humming cheerfully. When the babbling Minister of Magic finally fell silent, he said brightly,

"So I immediately came here to collect some more aurors and your esteemed self so that we could take the testimonies of the Death Eaters that are recovering in our medical wing."

The Minister lunged for this, beginning his stalling once more, refusing to believe.

"And Potter! What on earth was he doing wandering around the Forbidden Forest? What kind of stunt-" However, the little drama was cut short as Fawkes the phoenix appeared in a burst of flames above their heads, and soaring over them, let a scrap of parchment flutter down to land in Albus Dumbledore's lap.

Curious, the wizard picked up the battered letter and looked it over.

Seconds later, he was on his feet.

"Cornelius!" He boomed, all traces of good humor having fled.

"Send a group of aurors to Hogwarts at once!" And without saying anything else, he reached up, grabbed a hold of the phoenix's long tail feathers and disappeared in a whirl of flame.

--

Donald and Goofy were standing guard before the imposing doors of Hogwarts, with Goofy keeping an eye on the enchanted map to keep track of any surprises. The castle was eerily silent, except for the occasional crash from an irritated Peeves, and the two warriors were on edge.

They didn't like being separated from Sora. They also didn't like being the only conscious people in the entire castle. The entire time they'd been there, it had been a place of noise, explosions and laughter. The silence that had overtaken the castle reminded them far too well of the silence of the dead. The silence of the battlefield, when all is said and done, and no one is left even to weep for the fallen. No, they didn't like this at _all_.

So when the group of Death Eaters came knocking at the front door, ready to cause some mayhem, Donald and Goofy were almost glad for the interruption. And the group of killers that came to Hogwarts that night were in for an unpleasant surprise, when upon finally breaking the doors down, they were introduced to a number of inventive Weasley Twin traps, and two very unhappy otherworlders.

Unfortunately for the aurors, some ten minutes later, they chose the same entrance, and a few of the traps were still operational…

--

Meanwhile, underneath Hogwarts, Harry and Sora were throwing everything they could think of at Voldemort, dodging and ducking around the chamber as they tried to follow the dark wizard's movements.

The fact that he was forbidden to apperate until of age was really pissing Harry off. He and Sora could have driven the wizard out if they could just follow the bastard. Instead, every time they came close to locking the wizard in a corner where they could unleash a lot of really nasty spells, he would simply apperate away.

Every. Single. Time.

Sora wasn't liking it either. At least when the Nobodies pulled their disappearing stunts they gave warning by way of the creeping darkness that created their portals.

Apperating? Merely created a popping sound. Poof. Gone.

The only thing that was keeping Harry and Sora alive and un-captured was their rather fantastic instincts, honed from repeated Bad Experiences. The other advantage they had, was that Voldemort didn't know what Sora, or his weapon, were capable of. For example, the first fire spell Sora used created a whirlwind of flames whipping around himself, and sent the dark wizard stumbling backwards without any of his usual grace. It wasn't the spell that unnerved the wizard, but the fact that he couldn't sense it and couldn't block it. This cheered Sora up immensely, and he started using magic in earnest, and between the barrage from himself and Harry, the two were holding their own.

A hurried and badly aimed reducto curse sent rotting basilisk everywhere, and Sora and Harry, gagging, took the distraction to duck behind a pillar to catch their breath.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Wait for Dumbledore to show up."

"And when that doesn't happen?"

"Wing it, I suppose."

"Knew you were gonna say that."

Sora took off, breaking into a sprint as he angled his way behind the dead basilisk, keeping out of sight as he followed the dark whisper that was the other wizard's presence. He thought fiercely of Harry, of the castle full of helpless children, and suddenly Oblivion was in his other hand. Smiling grimly, Sora bent his knees and leapt into the air, practically slamming into a surprised Riddle, and spun into a two-bladed Arc Arcanum.

Voldemort hadn't expected it. Duels on this world seemed to be reliant entirely on magical power and ability, and a physical attack was something the Dark Lord hadn't had time to adjust to.

The dark magic took the brunt of the attack, but the impact still sent the wizard flying, and Harry pounced from his hiding place and hit the downed wizard with an absolute deluge of spells, speaking so fast it was a miracle he got all the words out.

It didn't kill him, but it had to hurt.

Dumbledore was not a happy man. No, not at all. Hogwarts was his beloved school, and Death Eaters had dared to try to hurt the students sheltered within it's walls. Fawkes had fire-flashed the wizard directly to Donald and Goofy, who happened to be involved in a rather vicious skirmish with a mob of skull-faced intruders.

They were winning, of course, but it was still a brutal battle, with the Death Eaters using the darkest and nastiest of spells to try to kill the two odd defenders.

Then Dumbledore showed up.

Between Donald and Dumbledore's magic, and with the Death Eaters caught between the trio and the aurors, it was over fairly quickly.

The aurors split up to search the school and check on the children, and Dumbledore turned his attention to Donald and Goofy, immediately asking the whereabouts of his unluckiest student and the Keyblade Master.

Understandably, the answer 'the Chamber of Secrets' was met with some alarm, since only a parseltongue could gain access.

Once again, fate/luck/chance/whatever, had separated Harry from his allies and pitted him against an enemy that really, really, wanted him dead. This time, however, he had an unexpected friend by his side. More than one, actually, for Fawkes had left Dumbledore to his battle and, singing, fire-flashed directly into the Chamber of Secrets where a desperate fight was underway.


	13. Shattered Hearts

**Chapter Thirteen- Shattered Hearts**

Sora dived to the ground and rolled away underneath a jet of icy black flame, cursing.

Things had definitely taken a turn for the worse.

'Powerful', people had said. 'Insane,' also turned up when discussing Riddle. But no-one had mentioned that Voldemort was currently two steps shy of immortal.

Which was a shame, because that was crucial information.

Harry wracked his brain for some sort of spell to end things, but fell short. Instead he threw a bone-breaking curse and hit the floor as well.

If he survived this hellish day, he was going to look up the spell Voldemort was using.

More importantly, how to block it.

Caught between a dead basilisk and a wall, Sora was hit dead on by a crucio, but to the red-eyed wizard's surprise, merely shook for a moment before visibly throwing the magic off. In that moment of surprise, Sora regained his feet and shot up into the air, landed lightly on the dead basilisk, and ran along it's sagging back before somersaulting to land at Harry's side.

A quick scan in Riddle's direction showed they'd done little real damage. Which wasn't fair, because they really had. Damn dark magic.

Taking a deep breath, Sora leveled a Stopgra at Voldemort, throwing extra energy into the spell.

"Harry, we've got to get out of here. There's got to be a way to hurt him. Undo whatever he's done to make himself near bloody invincible." Harry nodded, straining to breath properly.

"Dumbledore has to know. Bastard never tells me anything." He managed around gasps.

Not as fit as Sora, and still suffering from the effects of the sleep potion, Harry was about ready to collapse.

The time spell would fall any moment now.

"We've got to hit him with everything that we've got, then run for the entrance."

"Right. On three."

"Why the hell wait? On my mark…" The spell holding Riddle shattered, and Sora yelled "Now!"

Simultaneously, the youths attacked, at the exact same moment that Voldemort threw a particularly potent torture spell and also the moment that Fawkes flared into life above their heads.

The magic collided with all the force of two out of control semi's slamming into each other while traveling at high speed. Sora and Harry were sent flying back, impacting with the carcass of the dead basilisk, while Voldemort went backwards and tripped backwards over the forgotten form of Severus Snape.

While Sora and Harry had a safe if disgusting landing, Voldemort slammed straight into the hard and unyielding statue of Salazar Slytherin. There was a loud snapping noise, and then the wizard fell to the ground in a heap.

Momentary silence.

"No way it's that easy."

Broken bones were nothing to this wizard that had made his life's work to defy death. His serpentine body twitched on the ground, and then unnaturally began to rise, raised as if on puppet strings. The stink of dark magic increased, and before Sora and Harry's horrified eyes the wizard raised his wand with a sense of finality.

A rib was protruding straight out of the shattered wizard's chest, one arm bent at an unnatural angle. Riddle's head had an odd cast, an uneven slant to the features from where his head had impacted with the statue, and somehow the worst thing about that shattered body was the complete lack of blood.

Voldemort should have died, at the least he should have been in unbearable pain, but he was smiling as he raised his wand, his pale bloodless body beginning to hide behind layers of magic.

Caught in the horror of the moment, none of the combatants noticed the Phoenix, now oddly silent, hovering overhead.

--

Harry couldn't look away. Couldn't tear his eyes away from the horrifying promise in crimson eyes. He tightened his grip on his wand, strangely hot, and remembered like one in a dream that not once had his and Riddle's wands met this night, creating Priori Incantatem. He raised his own wand. They both opened their mouths…

In seconds, the connection would be once more created. However, eyes locked with each other, both wizards forgot a rather important element in their fight.

Sora.

--

Sora didn't know what was happening between his friend and the dark wizard who had attacked them, but he didn't think it was a good thing. Both were about to cast spells, and Sora could feel it in the tension in the air, in his blood.

Immortal, huh? He hadn't expected that. At all. But he refused to stand by and let his friend down. So as the two wizards cast their magic, Sora too lunged forward, flinging Oblivion to intercept them, and then took hold of Oathkeeper in both hands.

It read his intent, and eager, tugged at his hands, dragging him forward as he focused everything upon stopping this unnatural evil in front of him, in saving all the innocent people helpless above.

A painful, yet welcome warmth ignited in his chest, and he threw his head back heedless of his surroundings as Oathkeeper erupted with power, taking his energy and his desire and transforming it.

It happened very quickly. Oblivion sang a dark song as it cut the energy beam forming between the two wizards almost as it formed. The Keyblade shot away into the darkness, vanishing mid air and returning to Sora's heart. Both wizard's staggered, painfully, as their magic back-lashed, and by then it was too late for either to stop what was happening.

Sora wasn't sure, but he thought he might have screamed. Raw energy was circling around him, feeding into his impromptu spell, the Keyblade magnifying and focusing it. Both he and the Keyblade glowed a brilliant gold, and as his feet left the floor Sora had a heartbeat in which to wonder if he'd done the right thing. Then thought and doubt was gone, as the Keyblade's energy lashed out and trapped Tom Marvello Riddle.

It felt like forever, but in reality it was seconds only, that the bright beam of energy connected the Keyblade and the dark wizard lasted. Fawkes sang a single note, holding it far beyond a human's capacity.

There was a loud click, exactly like a key turning in a lock. Then the brilliant energy throbbed once and then erupted away, screaming throughout the chamber as it was released before, much like Harry and Voldemort's spells, back-lashing violently. Sora fell to the floor and did not move.

Breaking from his shock, Harry flung himself next to his friend, wand still trained on the motionless Riddle. Seconds began to pass, but to Harry's shock, Voldemort didn't take advantage of the two youths, instead standing exactly as he had been before the spell began. Harry, unnerved, was sure he didn't even blink. Slowly, Voldemort brought his hands before his face, and stared at them.

"What…What have you done?" Harry's mouth fell open, but before he could gather his thoughts enough to ask, the wizard had vanished.

Silence fell over the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry was the only one conscious as that peculiar post-battle peace spread.

--

Fawkes was sitting on Sora's chest, humming and crooning softly, bright eyes fixed on the boy's pale face. Harry knelt next to his body, shaking fingers searching for a pulse. He found one, and slumped in relief, and then looking around at the utterly destroyed chamber Harry began to worry how they were going to get out of there. Not even looking at Snape, Harry began to struggle his way to his feet. Remembering that Fawkes could do a phoenix form of apperation, Harry bent over, hands on his knees, and stared the phoenix straight in the eyes.

"Fawkes? Thanks for coming. And…whatever it was you did. But Sora really needs to get to the hospital wing. I don't think we can make it on our own. Can you please take us?"

The phoenix flared his wings, uttered a handful of notes, and Harry had just enough time to lunge forward and grab hold of Sora before the flaming bird whisked them both away.

Leaving Snape forgotten at the feet of Slytherin's broken statue, which was strangely fitting.

--

Madame Pomfrey was still unconscious, so the sudden arrival of two blood and slime covered students and a phoenix in her pristine healing room didn't surprise her at all. Fawkes managed to land the two right on a bed, which was handy because neither student, one unconscious and one close to being so, had the strength to move.

Harry blinked tiredly, registering that he was lying on something warm and soft, and having fought off the urge to sleep for some time, immediately succumbed. They were both there and they were safe. Questions could come later.

It was an oddly tranquil scene, considering the blood, the dirt, the slime, and the two unconscious people on the floor.

Fawkes tucked his wings in close to his body and began to sing softly, a low haunting tune that whispered eerily throughout the healing wing.

--

Goofy had been unobtrusively trying to wipe the blood off his shield when he caught sight of the Map. Dumbledore and Donald were standing in front of an ordinary sink with a ghost girl, trying everything within their combined powers to open the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Not understanding magic, Goofy had nonetheless tagged along, desperate to find his lost friend. So, the map.

It took his a moment to understand what he was seeing, with the unfamiliar aurors moving all over it as they combed the castle and ensured the safety of the students, but Goofy's eyes were drawn to the familiar name of his friend. The dog knight blinked, letting his shield fall away into nothingness as he grabbed the map off the corner of the sink where he'd placed it.

_Sora. Harry. Fawkes._

The hospital wing, he noted.

"Donald! Dumbledore sir!" He began excitedly, all but tripping over himself as he rushed forward.

"Not now, Goofy," the duck mage snapped, lifting his staff again as he tried glaring the blasted sink into oblivion.

"But Sora," the knight began, but again Donald cut him off.

"Yes, Sora, who we are trying to find, so please, Goofy, would you just-"

This time it was Goofy who cut him off.

"But Sora's here! On the map! He and Harry have appeared in the hospital wing!" There was a moment of silence, then…

"WHAT?!"

--

"Where is that boy?" Donald was panting as he waddled at high speed down the corridor after his two longer legged companions.

"I'm going to fry him and then have a long talk about not gallivanting off into hidden chambers…" Dumbledore and Goofy were a close tie as they slid through the hospital wing doors. The doors began to snap shut again just as Donald panted up to them, and already annoyed from his exertions and the earlier fight, the mage merely muttered under his breath and blasted them into kindling.

See the doors try to hit him then.

Neither Dumbledore or Goofy even noticed as they swept past the sleeping figures of Hermione and Ron, and crowded instead around a bed containing two sleeping youths and protected by a phoenix.

They looked bad, covered in blood and decomposing basilisk gore, and it was hard to see how badly they were hurt. With a piercing look at the boys on the bed, Dumbledore skirted around and then knelt beside the unconscious Madame Pomfrey, lifting her eyelids to check her eyes and taking her pulse. He appeared to be thinking deeply, before he came to some sort of decision, and lifting his wand, brought it swishing downwards in a curiously circular motion. A silvery light touched with blue drifted out like mist and settled over the occupants of the room. Nothing happened for a long moment, and then people began to stir. McGonagall stirred uneasily, reaching out as if to pull up a blanket that wasn't there, and then sat bolt upright.

"Harry," she gasped, still caught up in her last conscious moments. Her wild gaze fell on Dumbledore and calmed somewhat, but she paled further when she gained her feet and saw the object of her thoughts so pale and bloody on the bed. Madame Pomfrey woke slower, having been caught by surprise by the potion, and waking more because of the uncomfortable floor than anything else. Of course, waking up to find Albus Dumbledore about a foot away staring intently at you would shock the hell out of you too, so she screamed and fell back again, hitting her head rather hard.

She groaned painfully.

"Albus, what on earth…" The old wizard helped her to her feet, and she stared blankly around her kingdom for a moment before inevitably her eyes fell on Harry and Sora, who were a mess.

"Oh my goodness! What on earth happened!" And forgetting her sore head the medi-witch bustled forward, knocking both Dumbledore and Goofy out of the way and nearly trampling poor Donald.

"You were all suffering under the effects of a sleep potion, it seems. Mr. Potter and Sora here sought out the cause of the disturbance and seemed to run into some trouble in the Chamber of Secrets. I am still uncertain as to Severus's location at this moment, but that will surely resolve itself soon. If you would please…" The wizard trailed off as the medi-witch seemed to forget his presence, whipping her wand over her patients and mumbling under her breath. She sprinted across to a cabinet she had been organizing hours earlier and snatched a few, muttering about troublesome Potter's and how she should have known.

"Hardly a scratch for his trip in the Forbidden Forest capturing Death Eaters, and he manages to damn near kill himself here in Hogwarts…" Speaking of Death Eaters, the spell Dumbledore had cast was unprejudiced, and woke them as well.

"What the fuck?"

"Where the effing hell are we, Merin?"

"Don't use my name, genius! It's obvious we've been captured!"

"By who? You said the kid wasn't going to be any trouble, and now look!"

The male-turned-female snarled and fought the restraints.

"Where is he? I'll KILL 'im!"

Stunning spells, however, are prejudiced, extremely so, and seconds later the motley group were once more blessedly silent.

Back to Harry and Sora.

"Goodness, Albus. What on earth happened to them? They're both filthy, and I keep getting readings of dark magic off them. Someone's hurt them, and their energy levels…I haven't seen Harry so drained since that incident with Quirrell!"

As she spoke the witch was concentrating on the unconscious Boy-Who-Lived, while Donald snuck cautiously around her and began to cast Curaga spells on Sora. Wounds healed- especially a nasty cut from a dark curse that had tried to cut him in half. Once more Sora's clothes proved their worth by magically repairing themselves and vanishing blood and basilisk remains. His hair and skin was still coated, but still, effort noted. Madame Pomfrey finally noticed the results and turned to stare at the little duck mage. Donald took advantage of her shock and cast a Curaga at Harry as well.

"I'd forgotten just how good that was," the nurse began slowly, once more waving her wand over the boy's and staring at the results.

"They're exhausted, Albus, and I think they're going to sleep for a while, but they're going to be okay." She smiled at the group around the bed, including Hermione and Ron who had woken at some point and silently joined in the proceedings. Hermione relaxed her death grip on Ron- to _his_ relief- and then burst into tears of relief into his shoulder.

"Thank-you Donald, for your aid," Dumbledore said formally to the little mage.

"And to you as well, Goofy. From what I understand, it was you two along with Sora and Harry that defended the school when it was helpless. Words cannot express my gratitude."

Minerva was nodding agreement, wiping tears from her eyes as she smiled at her favorite group of Gryffindor's.

"Now," Madame Pomfrey said briskly, breaking the moment,

"Let's get to work on getting all that gore off them. I can't wait until I hear this explanation. It promises to be interesting."

…

"Is it me, or does Harry have an earring?"

--

Dumbledore and the aurors went to work waking all of the enchanted sleepers, and then Dumbledore had the wonderful job of preparing an explanation for a Minister that he didn't have yet. Not to mention, one Severus Snape was still missing, and if his hunch was correct, still in the Chamber of Secrets, possibly in need of aid. For some reason, Fawkes refused to leave Sora and Harry's bedside, and without him Dumbledore had no access to the hidden chamber.

Realistically, he had his wand and the stunning spell would wear off soon. Near miraculously, the teacher had gotten through the entire fight with Voldemort unconscious and without being hit with stray spells. Some decaying basilisk remains had fallen on him, however, and he'd been lucky he hadn't been crushed under the broken statue.

He was perfectly safe. He would find on waking, though, that a non-parseltongue couldn't get out on his own…

--

Harry and Sora slept. And slept, as the castle woke up, promptly went back to sleep because it was late, and then got up again. Harry had regained his color and began to move in his sleep, freaking out his devoted watchers as he began to hiss in parseltongue. Sora, however, now pale and perfect without wounds, nonetheless remained still and unmoving, his skin too pale and his voice still. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of his chest, he might have been dead. Donald and Goofy spent their hours next to his bed, telling his stories about their homeworld and begging him to wake up. Physically he was fine, and Madame Pomfrey maintained an outward façade of calm as she reassured the worried duo. This sort of thing was out of her expertise, and she suspected the Keyblade had something to do with it.

Then Harry woke up.

--

…?...

Harry was confused. Very confused. He was also so thirsty he thought he might have been able to drain the lake dry. His blurry vision told him the world had become white, and Harry immediately thought- ah, Hospital Wing.

He'd really been there way too often.

Now, why was he here? Someone was talking about aurors and cleanup, and Harry listened as he tried to piece things together and locate his glasses.

There! Now he could see! Ron didn't notice his audience had suddenly stirred, and was still talking.

"Glad they took those Death Eaters, mate, truth was they were freaking me out. Every time they regained consciousness they started ranting, and they had foul mouths. Mum would have washed their mouths out, that's for sure!"

"Ron? Where's Sora?" Ron squeaked and fell sideways out of his chair, but Harry barely noted his friend's surprise, for his memory had ambushed him. He looked around the room and at last spotted an area surrounded by curtains.

"Harry! You're awake! Thank Merlin!" Harry's excursion from bed to floor as he tried to get to Sora was briefly stalled as his oddly emotional friend practically tackled him.

Thank goodness Madame Pomfrey wasn't there, her outraged shriek would have busted eardrums.

"Good to see you too, mate. How long was I out?" Harry said awkwardly, patting Ron on the back, remembering that when he'd last seen the red-head he'd been lying still in enchanted sleep.

"Two and a half days, Harry. Me'n Mione have been going mad with worry." Patting Ron on the shoulder again, Harry found his feet.

"What are you doing?! You need to lie down." Harry began once more on his trek- and it felt like a trek, he still ached- to Sora's bed.

He presumed it was Sora's bed, anyway, since it was the only bed hidden and all the others were empty.

"I'm fine, Ron. I've got to find Sora." And before the red-head could stop him, Harry pulled back the curtains and peered in.

If Harry looked bad- and he did- Sora looked worse. He was just so pale. So terribly still for someone with such energy normally. His eyelashes were dark crescents over pale cheeks, his hair the only color he had. Harry's eyes were dry, and his throat ached.

"This…this is my fault." He rasped, as a worried Ron came up beside him to support him.

"Harry James Potter, if you even think about trying to blame yourself I will personally hex you." Hermione stepped into the Hospital Wing carrying two cups of hot chocolate. She was scowling.

"And what on earth are you doing out of bed? You're still weak- lie back down this instant!" Harry didn't fight as she sat the cups down, marched over and began to drag him back to his bed. He lay down without resistance, but his eyes never left Sora's still form. He didn't say anything, but he kept thinking of Cedric, and Voldemort. Sora was just so still. Then Harry remembered what had happened in the chamber, and frowned. What had Sora done? What had he done with Fawkes and the Keyblade that had drained him so? That had frightened Voldemort so? For Harry clearly remembered the look of horror on the dark wizard's face as he stared at his hands as if they'd changed somehow. Harry hadn't seen anything different…

He realized his friends were talking.

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"It's alright, we're just so glad you're alright. Sirius…" and Hermione's voice dropped, "Sirius will be too. It's all we've managed to keep him out of the castle." Harry opened his mouth to ask, but Madame Pomfrey chose that moment to make an appearance.

"Mr. Potter! You're awake! Why didn't you too call for me?" And with her usual bustling determination she swept over to him potion in hand. Harry eyed it nervously.

"What's that? Madame Pomfrey, please, what's wrong with Sora?" The stern witch softened slightly, although she was still fully prepared to stuff the potion down his throat herself if she had to.

"He's alright, dear, he's just very, very tired. He needs to rest." Harry remembered the strange magic Sora had cast and agreed that exhaustion made sense.

Still.

"Now, Harry, you need to drink all of this, it's for the residual dark magic you were hit with." Oh, Harry thought. So I'm Harry now, not Mr. Potter? He eyed the potion again, and sighed.

"I bet Snape made it extra tasty." Harry managed with extreme sarcasm for someone who was only just awake. Madame Pomfrey winced.

"Professor Snape is still missing, I'm afraid", she began, and Harry stared at her, eyes impossibly wide.

"Missing! But how could he be missing? He was in the Chamber of…" And Harry drifted off as he realized just how the professor could still be considered missing. He snickered. He couldn't help it, the irony was too much. He began to laugh.

"Mr. Potter! What on earth is funny about this?" Oh, so I'm Mr. Potter again. Harry tried to speak around his hilarity.

"Snape…he's stuck! A Slytherin! Stuck in the _Slytherin_ Chamber of Secrets…with a dead basilisk." He tried to go on and explain, but breathing was becoming an issue.

"I'll go get Professor Dumbledore," Hermione offered, eyes wide as her friends' cheeks went crimson.

Poppy mumbled her thanks and began to inch towards her cabinet. She had several calming draughts in there…


	14. The Way Home

**Chapter Fourteen- The way home**

Professor Dumbledore had made it a habit of always appearing calm, possibly just because it annoyed other people so much. He smoothed down his beard as he settled himself in a chair next to a much calmer Harry Potter. Calm as in drugged, and nothing could have alarmed him. Ah, magic.

"So, Harry, I already have a description of events provided by Donald and Goofy, but I have zero knowledge of the events that occurred once you and Sora went down into the Chamber to find Professor Snape." Harry was feeling a little odd- although very calm, of course- and shot the wizard beside him an uncertain look, then smiled brightly.

"Oh, we didn't go looking for him," Harry began brightly.

"Not really. We were looking for whatever had cursed the castle, see, and we thought maybe Snape was behind it."

"Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore said with slight disapproval. Harry was happily clueless, riding the fading effects of the calming potion. How could he not be happy?

"Yeah, him. We got down without hurting ourselves, and it was Snape alright. Greasy bastard was standing before this big cauldron releasing smoke. The cauldron, not Snape. Sora and me, we knocked him out easy. His Dark Mark was acting all funny, I think, cause it was glowing. Freaky." Dumbledore tried to interrupt, but Harry was on a roll.

"Then I Vanished the cauldron-ha, Hermione! Which hurt my head because I was still kind of tired because of the potion, and I thought maybe everything was over, you know? But then Sora's acting weird, and my scar hurt, and then Sora throws us to the ground and next minute we're facing Voldemort, who looked really happy."

Everybody gasped in horror. This, they had not been expecting. Again, Harry didn't let anybody interrupt, the calming draught was wearing off and he felt positively hyper.

"He was all freaky and calm, like he'd already won, but Sora just flung one of his Keyblade's at the bastard, but he apperated away." Harry paused briefly, and clearly still feeling the potion, seemed to pout a little.

"Why can't we apperate yet? It wouldn't have been near as hard trying to hit him and get out of the way at the same time if we could have apperated too. But nooo. It was Bam! Crucio curse. Bam! Bone breaker. Not to mention that freaky black fire spell. I was going to look that up, I remember." Harry drifted for a moment again as his friends and teachers struggled for words.

"Everything was really rough for a while, but the Keyblade seemed to hurt him a little, but we couldn't corner him because he kept apperating. That's cheating, because we couldn't do it. Then a spell hit the dead basilisk and blasted dead icky stuff everywhere, and we got coated. Then Fawkes showed up, I think. I wasn't paying attention, really, I was trying not to die." The potion made Harry ramble and it also, it seems, made him blunt.

"Sora casts this spell that froze time, which was really cool, and we try to come up with a plan, because he's kind of almost immortal or something, and we just couldn't seem to hurt him. So the spell wears off and we throw everything we've got at him, but he casts something really dark just as we do, and the magic collides like out of control hippogriffs." Harry paused to suck in a breath, seemingly clueless to the open-mouthed people hanging onto his every word.

"It exploded like Neville's cauldron in potions, and we all get flung through the air. We were lucky, Sora and me, we landed on the basilisk, although that was gross, and we didn't die. Voldemort- although, you know, his name's Tom and calling him that makes him unhappy- hit the statue of Slytherin, and fell down. There was this awful breaking sound, but no way was he dead. Everything's all still for a moment, and then he rises up into the air like, like, I don't know, it was freaky, and his rib was sticking out of his chest, and his body was all mushed" (Ron gagged) "but there wasn't any blood. No blood at all. And he was smiling, and he raised his wand, and I thought, shit, we're gonna die. I knew he wanted to hurt us bad and I remembered our wands connecting last time we fought, and I thought maybe we could do it again. But just as our wands connected Sora came outta nowhere and flung one of his Keyblade's at it, and the phoenix song stopped. He used his other Keyblade then- the lighter one, you know- and I swear I have no idea what he did. He started glowing real bright, and there was light everywhere, and it hit Tom-he hates that name, did I tell you? Hits Tom, and Fawkes is singing, and there's this clicking sound, like a key in a lock, which is funny because Sora's weapon's a _Key_blade, right? Then Sora collapses, but Tom's really upset, staring at his hands, and he asked, "What have you done?" and then he vanished. Probably apperated. Wish I could do that. Then I went to Sora, and Fawkes got us here, and I must have fallen asleep. You know, I remember, we left Snape behind. He was unconscious and I forgot all about him." Harry's super-fast voice fell silent as he finished and the potion wore off, and he collapsed back onto his pillows.

Everybody was still gaping at the normally silent boy. Harry was ignoring them, however, as he was once more asleep.

McGonagall found her voice first.

"Well. Well then. Considering Severus must have been controlled, I suppose…he'll have to wait until Harry can open the entrance so he can get out." And the normally unflappable teacher wandered over to a chair and fell into it, massaging her temples and muttering about teenagers, and luck, and whiskey.

Hermione leaned over her friend, making sure he was okay.

"Wow," Ron said.

"What was in that potion?"

Dumbledore had his hand over his eyes, apparently deep in thought. He stood up and wondered over to stare down at Harry's face, calm and still in sleep. Then his feet took his across the room to a sad little trio, two awake and one not, and stared down at another boy, face also calm and still but far too pale.

--

Luckily, the heartless numbers were few, as if something had confused them, which was good since Sora was in no shape to fight.

--

Sora continued to sleep, unmoving, but every day his bedside was full of people talking, trying to wake him up. Donald was having long discussions with Madame Pomfrey as they tried to figure out why he still slept. Sora had locked _worlds_, before, with no ill effects. What had he done that had nearly killed him?

But no-one watched him at night, besides Harry on occasion, so they missed the events that occurred.

--

_The figure in black appeared once, a hooded mystery leaning casually against the window, watching the boy sleep. The figure left before dawn, and none of the alarms_ _reacted._

--

The days were still, but at night Sora was sometimes much more active, as if the darkness released him from something. He whispered for Roxas, begged someone called Namine, and tossed and turned over darkness.

--

Sora dreamt. He'd been dreaming a lot lately, but this wasn't like the others. He was standing before a crowd with a hat on his head, talking about dark reflections, and places of possibility.

_It's time to go home, Sora,_ the voice whispered in his ear.

Home? Wasn't he home?

_No. You had something to do, but it's done now. You've got to return._

He wasn't sure he wanted to. Return? To what?

_Everything. You've got a long way to go, you know._

Long way? He was tired.

_Yes. But it's time. You have to lock the world to safety in the place of possibility. This isn't your path, Sora. You've got to go._

If he had too…

_It's time to wake up, Sora._

Wake up?

Then he did.

--

The room was white. He tensed. His head hurt and he was in a white room. His heartbeat picked up and the Keyblade reacted instantaneously, appearing in a swirl of light in his hand and resting limply across his chest.

Where was he? He had to-

"You're awake!" An explosion took place in his ear and Sora collapsed again, head spinning. Something impacted with his chest and then someone, or someone's, were trying to hug him to death. The Keyblade dug into his ribs and he wheezed, letting it fade away as he tried to hug his friends and breathe as well.

"Get off him, you lot! He needs air, you know." Thank-you, thank-you…

"Oh Sora, thank goodness your awake! We were so worried." Sora tried to see the owner of the voice, blinking to clear his vision. A delighted blast of song greeted his ears, and then Fawkes was on his pillow, craning his head down to look into his eyes.

"Hi, Fawkes." He reached up with one trembling hand to pat the phoenix's soft chest. Why was he so weak?

"Hey, Harry. You okay? That Voldemort guy was nasty."

"Yeah, yeah he was," Harry said grinning, eyes wet.

"It's so good to see you awake." Sora managed a tired smile, and looked at Donald and Goofy. Goofy was bawling, and Sora winced.

"Aw, don't cry, Goofy. I'm okay. I'm just…Donald, put the staff _down_. I do _not_ need healing, okay? I'm just- gah!"

As usual, Donald ignored him completely and Sora was hit with a powerful green gold light. Despite his words, Sora sighed happily, feeling warmth and strength flash through his veins. He tried to look at the mage firmly, but laughed instead.

"So not surprised. Just this once…thanks. I probably needed that."

"Oh my!" Madame Pomfrey had once more missed a patient waking up. She teleported- well, moved really fast anyway- to his side and began fussing with her wand.

"Um, Madame Pomfrey, I'm just fine. Can I just-" Word of warning, do not interrupt a healer at work. Weak as Sora still was, she pinned him easily in place and continued her scan. Sora squeaked and fell still. Harry half-laughed in sympathy. He'd only been allowed up for a few days.

"So…how long was I out for?"

"Oh, just a week."

"A week?! A _week_? And what do you mean, _just_?"

--

"So when can I get up?" Sora asked hopefully. Madame Pomfrey laughed- actually _laughed_, and left the pouting boy as she went to refill one of his potions.

"What?"

--

Luckily, Sora had lots of company to keep him from going insane. The fact that he was in a white room didn't help things, though. He kept having odd flashes- like a dream he didn't remember. Harry and his friends were by every day, and Donald and Goofy barely left his side, apparently convinced that if they did something terrible would happen.

Now, where would they get that idea?

Still, the days were long to a boy used to constant movement, and to make things worse, he had the feeling that there was something he was supposed to be doing. His dreams were deep and anxious, and urgency took hold of him once more.

More than once, he drove Madame Pomfrey to distraction- and nearly tears- as he constantly devised plans to escape. He almost made it, too, after stunning the witch with a stopgra. Unfortunately, he was still weak and the spell faded before he could get fully out of the door. After telling him, quite firmly, that if he didn't stay still she was going to tie him down, Sora finally stopped his escape attempts. To Ron's absolute amusement. Harry, on the other hand, wanted to learn the time-stop spell for future reference.

Hermione wanted to learn the spell on basic principal.

The glorious day came, however, that Sora was released from his prison, and it so happened to coincide with the day of the end of year feast.

_A touch of fate, perhaps._

_--_

The day was one to be remembered. The day began on a somewhat somber note, with Dumbledore- and with a curious trio listening- asking what spell he had cast on Voldemort that had so drained him. The trio waited breathlessly, and Sora took his time answering.

"There was something really wrong with that man. I'm met some shady characters, but Tom…he wasn't all there. He was like a piece of a shattered heart. Like a Nobody. We couldn't seem to hurt him much, and I just wanted to fix it. Whatever was wrong. I could feel it. So I asked the Keyblade. I don't pretend to understand what the Keyblade is or what it does. I do a lot of things for it that I don't understand, but I know it understands what I was thinking. I just poured all my energy into the Keyblade, and it is what took the magic and transformed it into something solid. When it hit Voldemort, it seemed to be calling for something. I couldn't…I didn't…I wasn't all there. It was really powerful. But it kept calling until something answered, and then the Keyblade locked him, somehow. I've never heard of anything like that. Not on a person. I've done it to a world, even, but a person?" Sora clenched his fists. His eyes were dry.

"I locked his heart. I called something back- what was missing, I think, and I locked his heart. He's still strong. But he's not what he was, anymore. You said he performed rituals to try to become immortal?" Harry jumped at the sudden question. Dumbledore was watching Sora intently, very still.

"Yes. He _was_ different once, Sora. Brilliant. Talented. But he always feared death. It grew to be too much. There is power in darkness, and people mistakenly think that it can solve all their problems. Ultimately, it makes them worse." Sora's eyes burned anew, and he could see Riku in his mind's eye.

"I think that's what I did then. What the Keyblade did. Called back the parts he sacrificed in whatever dark rituals he did, and put them back in his heart. Then I- the Keyblade- locked his heart so that it couldn't be done again.

_What have you done? _

Harry felt his mouth slip open in wonder. Shivers raced down his spine.

"_Sora_, Sora you made him mortal again. Didn't you? Called his heart back, made it so he was vulnerable to death again…and he was terrified. That's why he left so suddenly." Harry fell silent, leaning back against the window frame as he stared out over the forest.

Sora shrugged a shoulder, but he looked like he agreed.

"I think so. As I said, it was really the Keyblade."

"Blimey." Ron whispered, as Hermione took his hand.

No-one could think of anything to say, and they stood staring out over the forest for a time.

"Come on Sora, hurry up!" Sora laughed, enjoying the feeling of the wind against his face after so long inside. He bolted after Harry, who was quite a fast runner, surprisingly, as the teens enjoyed the last day of freedom.

And spell-casting.

_Thwack!_

"What the…" Harry brushed at the back of his head, blankly.

"Ron! Who the hell conjures snowballs on a sunny day?"

"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first!" Laughing, they ran about pelting each other- and a few passerby's- with snowballs until they collapsed laughing to the ground. Donald and Goofy watched bemused from their seat near the stairs, wondering if they'd ever had that much energy.

It was a beautiful day.

--

"I can't believe it's the end of year already. I'm glad O.W.L's are done, though."

Sora snorted.

"I'm glad I missed them when I was unconscious. Not like I could have used those credentials later on."

The golden trio slumped a little, not liking the reminder that soon he would be gone.

Sora stopped mid-stride.

"The Keyhole…" He whispered.

"What?"

Flash.

His dream suddenly erupted into his conscious mind, and he went still.

_A place of possibility._

He'd been searching for ages. What could it be?

Something occurred to him.

Hold on, it couldn't possibly be…

Sora's eyes widened.

"I am the biggest idiot I have ever met. I am so stupid it's sad. How could I not have figured it out?" Sora said it all quite calmly, then leapt into the air with a cry of exaltation and humor. He broke into a sprint, laughing madly, and his friends followed on behind, shouting questions.

He ignored them all.

--

They gathered a lot of attention running wildly through the corridors, with Sora laughing and his friends yelling for answers. People dived for cover as the group zigzagged down corridors. It was the last day at Hogwarts for the year, and people all over were acting exuberantly, but this took the cake. Except, maybe, the fireworks Gred and Forge were testing in Filch's little office…

Ahem.

Sora finally skidded to a stop, and whirled around, eyes bright and hands trembling. Clueless faces stared back, as Ron bent over wheezing for breath after the wild run.

"Sora, what on earth are you-" Sora leaned forward, cutting Hermione off. The small crowd of interested bystanders- they were bystanders after they'd gotten interested and followed, anyway, and one very confused Professor McGonagall, who actually _had_ been passing by, leaning forward as well in expectation.

"A place of possibility," Sora lectured.

"A Keyhole is most often found in a place of importance and possibility. I've been looking everywhere for the damn thing and the entire time I was so close." And Sora leapt to the side and made a grand gesture, pointing towards the door he'd stopped in front of.

"Harry, Hermione, Ron, everyone else- I present the Keyhole." And Sora started laughing again.

Nonplussed, the trio stared where he pointed.

Straight at the Door to the Room of Requirement.

"You're _kidding_ me."

Sora continued laughing.

--

Finally, Sora managed to stop, although his mouth kept twitching.

"It's killing me, it really is." Donald and Goofy, who'd finally caught up, stared at him like he was mad.

"It was so close. No wonder I couldn't sense it. The Keyblade was so close…and then I had something to do as well, I suppose. Still." Sora summoned the Keyblade, which appeared eagerly in his hand.

"Wait! Sora, if you seal it, won't you leave?" Hermione asked a little tearfully.

"And forgive me, it doesn't look like a Keyhole." Sora's mouth twitched again.

"They never do. You'll see in a second, promise. And no, the Keyhole being sealed won't take us away- either the weird light will, or a path will appear like last time. An item that connects us…another road being created." And smiling, and before awed eyes, he raised the Keyblade.

It was time. The door that led to the Room of Requirement flashed and then faded away. Swirling mists, dark but not scarily so, appeared in the open space, and several people sucked in sudden breaths.

It was beautiful. Like scattered stars, pinpricks of light pierced the darkness, and reminded Sora of the cavern beneath the lake. Slowly, the shape of a keyhole appeared in glowing lines, pulsing in time to the beat of the world's heart. The Keyblade flashed, and Sora backed up. To him, he was suddenly transported to the heavens as he spun the glowing Oathkeeper around and then pointed it straight at the Keyhole, taking the blade in both hands. Light sparkled around him as a sudden wind threw his hair up and dragged at his clothing. A beam of intense light linked the youth to the Keyhole for a long, timeless moment.

Nobody breathed.

Then there was a click, loud but final, and slowly the Keyhole faded away into nothing. Sora gasped a little and he was back in the hallway, looking at a plain, nondescript door.

To the others, it was a moment of awe- and confusion. They were part of a magical world, and then knew the feeling of magic. It built around the youth in incredible amounts. Wind flashed from nowhere, and for a moment, Sora, who looked a million miles away, was hard to see for the light. A beam of bright light connected Keyblade and Keyhole, and then through the wind and the light they heard a distinct 'click'. The light and wind died down, and left Sora, standing looking at the plain door in front of him with a slightly sad smile.

"All done."

--

The awed silence lasted for a long moment, and then everyone broke into excited whispers, marveling over what they had just seen. Harry laughed at the look on Ron's face, but then noticed that Sora seemed to be waiting for something.

"Sora!" Professor McGonagall had pushed her way to stand next to the youth, and stared at the door.

"That. That was the Keyhole? You sealed it?" She sounded amazed as she considered the Gryffindor before her. Sora smiled distractedly, seemingly looking for something.

"Yep. That's it. I locked the world against the heartless. And now…now I'm finished."

"You're going to leave," Harry stated sadly.

Sora looked pained.

"Yes, but Harry, I've got to go. I've really loved my time here, it's been like a dream. But I've got so much to do. So many people relying on me. So many other worlds out there, and people like Voldemort that me and Donald and Goofy have to stop. I promise you, though, that I'll come back to visit." Harry nodded, and then the golden trio grabbed him into a massive bear hug. Sora hugged them back, and laughed as he watched Donald and Goofy vanish under their hugs as well.

"I wish we had something to give you," Harry said sadly. Professor McGonagall interrupted as she whipped what appeared to be a paperweight, of all things, from her pocket and waved her wand over it. Out of nowhere a soft light appeared as the transfiguration teacher worked her art. The light died down slowly, leaving behind a tiny statue, with the four House animals in miniature, exquisite detail. She offered it to Sora with a teary smile, and awed, Sora ran a finger down the tiny lion's head, mouth opened in a silent roar.

A tear ran down his face. Then he smiled, glowing.

"I won't forget any of you, I promise."

--

Down the hallways phoenix song echoed, beautiful and sad and glorious, all at once. It seemed to be what Sora was waiting for, because he made an odd sound, and shifted forward. Captivated by the song, Harry managed to ask,

"Sora? What is it?" Sora lit up in anticipation.

"The way home, Harry, the way home."

They didn't run, only walked, slowly like in a dream, down the seemingly endless hallways of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sora walked side by side with his friends, clutching his gift, listening to the sound of a phoenix singing. The Great Hall was beginning to fill with people for the feast, and they all stared upward in wonder as Fawkes circled high up near the enchanted roof, where the stars were shining brightly.

Sora was distantly glad that the room wasn't full, because this was going to be painful as it was.

Dumbledore was standing by the teacher's table, head back as he watched his old friend soar overhead. He didn't seem surprised to see Sora and the others, either.

"You sealed the Keyhole, I take it?" The wizard asked, eyes still on the phoenix. Sora looked at the old wizard.

"Yes. We were just saying goodbye." The teachers in the hall gasped. Snape looked happy, but avoided looking at him. He'd been like that ever since Harry regained consciousness and let him out of the Chamber of Secrets. He was constantly watched, now, and he hated it.

Sora, who'd been whispering to Professor McGonagall, hopped up onto the platform and walked over to Madame Pomfrey.

"Thank-you, for taking such good care of me. I'm sorry I don't really have anything to give you, but I hope the cure potion does your world some good." Poppy sniffed, suddenly realizing that now he was going, back to his war.

"It was my pleasure, Sora. Just promise me you'll take care of yourselves, okay? I don't know what's waiting for you, but I know it's dangerous. Just be careful." Sora nodded.

"I will." Sora hesitated, then turned to Hagrid.

"Thanks, Hagrid. I really enjoyed your classes." Hagrid nodded, too overcome to speak. He pulled out a handkerchief the size of a towel and blew his nose.

"Take care, Sora." Sora looked at the teachers, then flashed them a classic Sora grin.

"Come on guys, I'll be fine. Thanks for looking out for us while we were here. We appreciate it. We aren't always so lucky." Donald and Goofy chimed in, agreeing.

Sora turned back to Harry.

"Don't forget, Harry, to keep believing, and to keep fighting. That's all it takes. To believe and to stand up for what you believe. You're in my heart- you're all in my heart. I won't forget you, and I'll visit as soon as I can." They hugged again, and then Sora stepped back, Donald and Goofy at his side. He looked at them all, face somber, memorizing them. A sudden flash startled him, and he turned to stare at Colin as he lowered his camera.

"Sorry," the boy whispered. Sora just grinned, then looked up.

"Fawkes? I'm ready."

The phoenix folded his wings and plummeted. He spread his wings just above the little group, still singing, then twisted his head down and plucked from his tail a single feather. It drifted down then halted, glowing.

"The path," Sora whispered.

"Thank-you Fawkes." The phoenix called out mournfully, then swept away, and then outside, still singing.

The feather continued to glow, taking on a brilliant golden glow.

Every eye was fixed on it. Oathkeeper appeared in a blaze and Sora lifted the blade and pointed it at the glowing object.

A key-shape appeared. The Keyblade lit up again, and a wind kicked up around Sora as he opened this new path, that would take him home again.

Well, home as in back to where he had been, anyway. Golden light spread from Sora and wrapped around Donald and Goofy. As the light intensified, Sora turned his head to look at his friends.

_Thank-you_, he mouthed. The light grew…and then contracted sharply, and when it died away they were gone.

Hermione sniffed, and Harry and Ron put a hand on each shoulder.

"We'll see him again."

"I know. But it already seems darker."

**Yo! 'Tis the end! (Of the story, peoples.) Well, I had fun, and I hope people enjoyed it too. See ya round.**


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